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5 July 2018Copyright

Kim Dotcom can be extradited to US, says New Zealand court

Kim Dotcom, the founder of file-sharing website Megaupload, can be legally extradited to the US, the New Zealand Court of Appeal ruled today.

Dotcom, the German internet entrepreneur known for founding file-sharing service Megaupload, has been battling extradition attempts since Megaupload was shut down by the US Department of Justice in 2012.

In the US, he faces charges of criminal copyright infringement, conspiracy to commit racketeering, money laundering, and wire fraud.

The Court of Appeal held that Dotcom and three co-defendants are eligible for extradition, rejecting Dotcom’s appeal against a lower court’s ruling that the extradition could take place.

In response to the decision, Dotcom tweeted: “A judgement in complete denial of the legislative history and intention of the Copyright Act. Therefore it has the value of toilet paper. We will now appeal to the [New Zealand] Supreme Court.”

A tweet from Dotcom’s lawyer Ira Rothken added: “We have now been to three courts each with a different legal analysis—one of which thought that there was no copyright infringement at all.”

According to Dotcom, the court did not engage with submissions on why there was no criminal copyright infringement, but it did at the hearing.

He disputed the court’s interpretation of copyright provisions.

“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,” Dotcom added.

His team has previously argued that copyright infringement via digitally communicating protected works to the public is not a criminal offence in New Zealand.

In February last year, New Zealand’s High Court cleared the way for extradition. Although the court held that digital communication is not a criminal offence in New Zealand, it concluded that a conspiracy to commit copyright infringement amounts to a conspiracy to defraud and is therefore an extradition offence.

Even if the Supreme Court affirms the lower court’s judgment, Dotcom’s battle could continue as New Zealand’s justice minister would have to approve the extradition and this decision could be subject to further reviews, according to Reuters.

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More on this story

Copyright
28 March 2018   Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom has persuaded a tribunal in New Zealand that Chris Finlayson broke the law by refusing to provide Dotcom with all the information held about him.
Copyright
20 December 2018   The Supreme Court of New Zealand has agreed to hear Kim Dotcom’s appeal against earling rulings which found that the Megaupload creator can be extradited to the US to face copyright charges.
Copyright
5 November 2020   The fate of Kim Dotcom is uncertain after New Zealand’s Supreme Court ruled that the FBI can extradite him to the US to face long-standing copyright charges, but that he also has the right to appeal the decision.