Kim Dotcom can be extradited to US from New Zealand, court rules
Judge upholds decision against internet entrepreneur and three others, who can now be taken to America to face racketeering and criminal copyright charges
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom has lost another bid to dodge extradition to America on charges of copyright infringement and money laundering.
New Zealand’s Court of Appeal upheld the decision against Mr Dotcom and three others, who can now be taken to the US.
The charges are linked to Mr Dotcom’s now defunct file-sharing website Megaupload, which permitted millions of people to download digital content.
American authorities claim Mr 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 (£378m).
Mr Dotcom – who is from Germany and was originally named Kim Schmitz – and his co-accused have consistently denied the US charges.
The 44-year-old gained notoriety in Germany as a teen hacker who was handed a two-year suspended sentence for selling identities he had siphoned from telephone operators’ client database.
He was given New Zealand residency on an investor visa in 2009 – having previously lived in Hong Kong.
Mr Dotcom’s lawyer, Ira Rothken, said he would appeal to the Supreme Court, the country’s highest judicial body.
“We will seek review with the NZ Supreme Court,” Mr Rothken wrote on Twitter.
Many see the six-year legal ordeal as a litmus test for the distance the US can reach internationally to implement US firms’ intellectual property rights.
The High Court agreed with the defence they could not be removed from New Zealand on just the alleged copyright infringement because as “online communication of copyright protected works to the public is not a criminal offence in NZ” in an earlier court battle.
But the judge ruled in his 2017 ruling the accused could be extradited on the fraud charges because they constitute as crimes in the Australasian country.
Over the years Mr Dotcom became famed for his extravagant lifestyle rather than just his computer prowess.
He has shared photos of himself with cars and vanity license plates such as “GOD” and “GUILTY” and jet-setting around the world on his private jet.
He also once rented what was said at the time to be New Zealand’s most expensive house.