Open up your mind and say, ahh...

Kim Dotcom is a hard man to reach. The founder of Megaupload.com, the popular file-sharing site the Federal prosecutors just shut down, has been accused of costing copyright holders more than $500 million in lost revenue from pirated content uploaded to his service–movies, music, TV shows, and so forth. But the chief innovation officer, who oversees more than 30 employees in nine countries, has made a business of testing the legal limits–his umbrella company has pulled in roughly $175 million, according to court filings, of which he received more than $42 million in 2010.

Inquiries to Megaupload over the past year have not been responded to; when I reached out to a source this week who had a connection to Dotcom, the source responded, “Sorry, but Kim told us explicitly not to put him in contact with journalists.” But Dotcom hasn’t been able to evade the Feds: Prosecutors have indicted him and six other defendants over online piracy, and are seeking the forfeiture of $175 million, dozens of bank accounts around the globe, as well as a stable of Mercedes-Benzes, Maseratis, Rolls-Royces, and Lamborghinis boasting vanity license plates that likely reflect the Dotcom era of Megaupload: “Good,” “Evil,” “CEO,” “God,” “Stoned,” “Mafia,” “Hacker,” and perhaps most telling, “Guilty.”

According to court documents, Dotcom owns roughly 68% Megaupload.com, Megaclick.com, and Megapix.com, subsidiary sites of the Mega Conspiracy brand. Dotcom also owns 100% of registered companies Megavideo.com, Megaporn.com, and Megapay.com. This family of sites grew to include more than 180 million registered users. Premium members of the service helped bring Mega Conspiracy more than $150 million, according to the Feds, while online advertising help the company bring in another $25 million.

To give some sense of just how large Dotcom’s dot-com business grew, between roughly 2006 through 2011, Mega Conspiracy’s PayPal account is said to have received over $110 million from subscribers and other associated persons. Fees for accepting payments on PayPal range from about 2% to as high as 3.9% for international transactions; thus, even a low-ball estimate would suggest PayPal likely made millions of dollars from Dotcom’s operations.

Your flying car is almost ready.

Uncle Sam has signed off on the exemptions Terrafugia needs to begin building the Transition, the “roadable aircraft” it plans to begin selling for $250,000 or so late next year. The Massachusetts company, founded by MIT grads, has spent more than four years developing the aircraft, which first took to the air in 2009.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration granted all of the exemptions Terrafugia sought to make the funky flying machine as capable on the road as it is in the air. The exemptions allow the company to install tires more suited to the unique vehicle, for example, and use polycarbonate windows instead of heavier glass.

“We further conclude that the granting of an exemption from these requirements would be in the public interest and consistent with the objectives of traffic safety,” the feds said.

Catching a break from the feds will allow Terrafugia to begin delivering the Transition to customers once it completes certification testing. The company also is hip-deep in crash testing.

The exemptions follow a decision the FAA made last year to grant the company an extra 110 pounds to the light sport aircraft limit of 1,320 pounds maximum takeoff weight. That will allow the firm to install vehicular safety equipment like airbags while still competing with other LSA aircraft in terms of range and payload.

As much as we love calling this a flying car, the company insists it’s an airplane you can drive, not a car you can fly. Whatever. We want to try one no matter what it’s called.

Photo: Terrafugia