( CNN ) -- Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom has announced he is launching a new political party in his adopted home of New Zealand . `` My new political party wo n't be named Mega Party . We are the Internet Party , '' he tweeted Wednesday . The aim of the Internet Party is to make politics exciting again , he said through Twitter . The larger-than-life entrepreneur is a German native and ca n't personally run for office as he is not a citizen of New Zealand . However he alluded to his desire to focus his party 's policies around internet privacy and government surveillance . Dotcom founded file-sharing website Megaupload in 2005 , which allowed users to upload music , videos and files . It was accused of being an online haven for digital pirates . The U.S. government shut down the site in 2012 in a piracy crackdown . Dotcom had assets frozen and was arrested in the crackdown that included a police raid on his luxurious house near the capital , Auckland and was remanded to Mt . Eden prison . A judge overturned the verdict just over a month later . Since then , he has faced numerous legal battles . In New Zealand , Dotcom has worked on various projects -- with politics being the latest . Antihero appeal ? Bryce Edwards , a political commentator and lecturer at the University of Otago in New Zealand , believes that Dotcom has become an unlikely beloved figure in the country . `` We have n't seen a maverick like Kim Dotcom throw his weight into politics , this is someone wanted for crimes allegedly committed and has an extreme personality , and strangely New Zealanders have really warmed to it , '' Edwards said . New Zealand 's general elections are expected to take place before the end of this year . According to numerous political analysts , there is no clear front-runner , making it difficult to predict the outcome . `` In the past , Dotcom has infamously donated money to a politician called John Banks who is quite far on the right of the political spectrum , so there are assumptions that Dotcom is politically at the right but it 's pretty uncertain , '' said Edwards . He also cautioned that Dotcom 's Internet Party must win at least 5 % in order to make any impact on the political scene . Gaining anything less would make people `` feel like they are wasting their vote . '' In order for a party to be sworn into parliament in a country with over 3 million eligible voters , it must obtain this crucial 5 % threshold or win a constituency . In a further comment on Twitter , Dotcom appeared confident that the Internet Party would make it mark at the election . `` Get ready for low blows and smear against me and my political party . My attackers are worried . They should be . We will get more than 5 % , '' he stated on the microblogging site . Other than technological advocacy , it 's unclear what the party 's exact policies are . Edwards believes the Internet Party is set to focus on some key voting groups including the youth , tech-savvy people and those that have become disillusioned with the current system such as those from a lower socio-economic background and ethnic minorities . A man of many talents . It 's not only politics that Dotcom has dabbled in lately . He was planning to launch his debut album titled `` Good Times '' at a huge birthday bash for himself on January 20 . However , he had to cancel the event because of a potential breach of electoral laws as it was being held for free . Over 20,000 people had registered on Twitter to attend . Dotcom says he increasingly turned to music to escape his legal woes of the past few years . `` When you have a family with five kids , and you 're facing an indictment with potentially 80 years in prison , you 're not in a good state of mind . But that 's why the music really helped me . When I was in the studio , everything else just turned off , '' he said in an interview with The Guardian this week . Megaupload has since been succeeded by an almost identical venture under a new , shortened name -- Mega . Dotcom has said that he will release more details of his new political party on January 20 .
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom launches a political party in New Zealand . His party needs at least 5 % of the vote or a constituency win to get into parliament . There is no clear front-runner for the vote , expected to take place at the end of the year . He is also launching an album at his birthday bash on January 20 .