Kim DotCom, MegaUpload Founder Loses Appeal Against Extradition to the U.S.

Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom and founder of file-sharing website MegaUpload, has lost his latest round of appeal against extradition from New Zealand to the U.S. New Zealand's Court of Appeal upheld the decision that Dotcom and three others can be extradited to the United States to stand trial for copyright infringement and fraud.

"The United States relied on a range of extradition pathways in seeking the extradition of the appellants," the statement said. "The Court has confirmed all these extradition pathways are available to the United States, and that the United States has tendered sufficient evidence to support their case on those pathways."

Dotcom had his former home in Coatesville, Auckland raided by New Zealand police and the FBI six-and-a-half years ago. The raid led to 13 charges against Dotcom and the three men, including conspiring to commit copyright infringement, money laundering and racketeering. Dotcom faces charges related to his now defunct file-sharing website MegaUpload, which allowed millions of people to download pirated digital content such as songs, movies and games. The U.S. claims that Kim Dotcom, Mattias Ortmann, Bram van der Kolk and Finn Batato were involved in a worldwide criminal organisation that lost copyright holders more than an estimated $500m.

Dotcom and his co-accused have consistently denied the U.S. charges and said he was "extremely disappointed" by the decision. Dotcom, in his response to the judgment, said: "The court's interpretation of the relevant copyright provisions cannot be right.

"The precedent set is concerning and has ramifications in New Zealand outside my case. The decision exposes Internet Service Providers to criminal liability for the misuse of their services by users, as is claimed against me. This is something that, as any rudimentary review of the legislative history makes clear, and the High Court accepted, was never intended. The Court was taken through that history but has not referred to it.”

"We will seek review with the NZ Supreme Court," his lawyer Ira Rothken tweeted.

The latest ruling does not determine whether the defendants are guilty or innocent, merely that they can be sent to the U.S. to stand trial.

However, New Zealand’s acting Prime Minister Winston Peters said the possibility of appealing for Dotcom wasn't clear cut. "I am told he seeks to appeal, whether he can or not is a matter of debate."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 05, 2018 10:34 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).