MegaUpload Owner Kim Dotcom Loses Appeal on Extradition to US

Kim Dotcom, the owner of the file-sharing website MegaUpload, can now be extradited to the U.S. from New Zealand to face criminal copyright charges, a New Zealand appeals court has ruled. He plans to appeal to the New Zealand Supreme Court.

Kim Dotcom, the owner of file-sharing website MegaUpload which was shut down in 2012, can now be extradited to the U.S. to face charges of criminal copyright infringement due to a ruling by a New Zealand court, Engadget reports. Dotcom’s lawyer, Ira Rothken, published a tweet stating that he was disappointed with the ruling from the court and has plans to make an appeal to the New Zealand Supreme Court.

Dotcom and his three co-defendants — Mathias Ortmann, Bram van der Kolk, and Finn Batato — were accused by U.S. authorities of preventing movie companies and record labels from generating approximately $500 million in income by encouraging their website’s subscribers to upload and store copyrighted movies and music to the MegaUpload service. Dotcom’s legal team has long asserted that there is not enough evidence to prove that he committed a crime. Dotcom published a statement on his disappointment in the recent ruling. In his statement, Dotcom said:

As people will know, I am prepared to fight to get justice, whether it is for me or others. I will appeal to the Supreme court. Just yesterday, the United States accepted that right exists. My legal team are confident that the Supreme Court will hear the appeal given there are such significant legal issues at stake. Many important cases in New Zealand are not won in the court of appeal, or in the Courts below, but are won when they reach the Supreme Court. My case will be one of those.

Dotcom previously sued the government of New Zealand for $6.7 billion and allegedly received a six-figure settlement from New Zealand police over allegations of unreasonable force when arresting Dotcom. If the Supreme Court sees Dotcom’s appeal and rules against him, the decision to extradite him to the U.S. will be left in the hands of Justice Minister Andrew Little.