The New Zealand judge in Kim Dotcom’s case has referred to the United States as “the enemy,” with respect to intellectual property policy.

Speaking at the NetHui conference in Auckland last week (organized by the “Fair Deal” coalition, a group of Kiwis opposed to the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership treaty), District Court Judge David Harvey said: “We have met the enemy, and he is the US.”

The Fair Deal group is lobbying the New Zealand government to hold firm on its position of resisting the strong IP position of the American government. They argue that if New Zealand were to sign and ratify the treaty, it would impose undue restrictions on NZ consumers. These include an extended copyright time and new possible restrictions on circumventing DVD region codes.

Some in the New Zealand press have speculated that this may also indicate that the judge would lean toward Dotcom’s side and away from the American side of the case. Last week, Dotcom’s extradition hearing was pushed back until 2013. This prompted Dotcom to announce to American authorities that he would be open to coming to the US voluntarily if his assets were unfrozen.

Auckland University law professor Bill Hodge told the NZ Herald that such comments “can be seen as probably an extra-judicial comment that isn't helpful,” adding, “I think judges should be free to make comments, as long as it doesn't appear to show any predetermination with respect to the specific case in the court before them."