Kim Dotcom, the mastermind behind the banned file-sharing site Megaupload, is due to be extradited from New Zealand to the United States to stand trial. “I’m not leaving the country,” he defiantly replied.
The German-born New Zealand resident has been fighting extradition to the United States since 2012 on suspicion of running an illegal download site, and New Zealand’s Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has ordered his extradition to U.S. authorities.
“I love New Zealand and have no plans to leave… don’t worry, I have a plan,” he wrote on Page X on Thursday in response to Mr Goldsmith’s order.
Goldsmith said he was giving Dotcom a “short period to consider my decision and seek advice” and declined to comment further on the ruling.
On Tuesday, the flamboyant internet mogul posted on X: “A submissive US colony in the South Pacific has decided to extradite me because of the content uploaded by its users on Megaupload.”
U.S. authorities shut down Megaupload more than a decade ago and charged Dotcom, who was known as Kim Schmitz, with copyright infringement, conspiracy, organized crime and money laundering. Three of his former colleagues were also charged in the case.
Federal investigators allege that the wildly popular site, founded by Dotcom in 2005, has made more than $175 million, mostly from illegal downloads of music, TV shows and movies, and U.S. authorities say the massive digital theft has cost movie studios and record companies about $500 million.
Dotcom argues that he should not be held liable if others use his site to commit illegal acts, that the matter should have been resolved as a civil rather than criminal proceeding, and that he has never lived in, visited or conducted business in the United States.
“New Zealand Copyright Act (s. 92b) makes it clear that ISPs cannot be criminally liable for the actions of their users,” Dotcom said after losing his appeal in 2017. “Unless you’re Kim Dotcom?” The High Court disagreed, finding that under New Zealand law, the conduct was [sic] As a form of fraud, it paved the way for Dotcom’s extradition.
The internet entrepreneur was arrested in 2012 when police raided his Auckland home. He was held in custody for a month before being released on bail. Since then, he and his co-accused have been fighting to prevent extradition, with the case continuing all the way to New Zealand’s Court of Appeal.
He then relaunched the business under the name Mega in 2013 with a New Zealand domain, but has not been involved since 2015. Mega, now run by a New Zealander, has rebranded as “Online Privacy”.
Dotcom’s extradition was first approved by New Zealand’s High Court in 2017 and that decision was upheld in 2018. The Supreme Court again confirmed his extradition in 2020 but allowed for further judicial review.
Two of Dotcom’s co-defendants, Matthias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk, accepted plea deals and avoided extradition, receiving prison sentences in 2023. A third co-defendant, Finn Batato, died in New Zealand in 2022.
Dotcom’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
With post wire
