In a twist of international law, Lawyers for Megaupload are saying U.S. piracy charges against the company should be dropped, but not necessarily those against its founder, Kim Dotcom. A motion they filed last week seeking to have the charges dropped doesn't apply to the company's larger-than-life founder, who's fighting extradition from New Zealand to the United States to face individual charges. As The Hollywood Reporter noted on Sunday, even if the lawyers win their argument that Megaupload wasn't properly served papers in the piracy case, it won't protect Dotcom. Basically, the argument goes, there's no standard for serving a criminal summons on a "wholly foreign corporation without an agent or offices in the United States," THR's Eriq Gardner explains. "If Megaupload is dismissed from the case, Dotcom and others could still potentially be extradited and brought to trial, but the company itself might escape." As for Dotcom, his best hope right now is to stay off U.S. soil.

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Adam Martin