WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Kim Dotcom, founder of the once wildly popular file-sharing website Megaupload, lost a 12-year fight this week to halt his deportation from New Zealand to the U.S. on charges of copyright infringement, money laundering and racketeering.
New Zealand’s Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith divulged Friday that he had decided Dotcom should be surrendered to the U.S. to face trial, capping — for now — a drawn-out legal fight. A date for the extradition was not set, and Goldsmith said Dotcom would be allowed “a short period of time to consider and take advice” on the decision.
“Don’t worry I have a plan,” Dotcom posted on X this week. He did not elaborate, although a member of his legal team, Ira Rothken, wrote on the site that a bid for a judicial review — in which a New Zealand judge would be asked to evaluate Goldsmith’s decision — was being prepared.
The saga stretches to the 2012 arrest of Dotcom in a dramatic raid on his Auckland mansion, along with other company officers. Prosecutors said Megaupload raked in at least $175 million — mainly from people who used the site to illegally download songs, television shows and movies — before the FBI shut it down earlier that year.
Lawyers for the Finnish-German millionaire and the others arrested had argued that it was the users of the site, founded in 2005, who chose to pirate material, not its founders. But prosecutors argued the men were the architects of a vast criminal enterprise, with the Department of Justice describing it as the largest criminal copyright case in U.S. history.
The men fought the order for years — lambasting the investigation and arrests — but in 2021 New Zealand’s Supreme Court ruled that Dotcom and two other men could be extradited. It remained up to the country’s Justice Minister to decide if the extradition should proceed.
Three of Goldsmith’s predecessors did not announce a decision. Goldsmith was appointed justice minister in November after New Zealand’s government changed in an election.
“I have received extensive advice from the Ministry of Justice on this matter” and considered all information carefully, Goldsmith said in his statement.
“I love New Zealand. I’m not leaving,” German-born Dotcom wrote on X Thursday. He did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment.
Two of his former business partners, Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk, pleaded guilty to charges against them in a New Zealand court in June 2023 and were sentenced to two and a half years in jail. In exchange, U.S. efforts to extradite them were dropped.
Prosecutors had earlier abandoned their extradition bid against a fourth officer of the company, Finn Batato, who was arrested in New Zealand. Batato returned to Germany where he died from cancer in 2022.
In 2015, Megaupload computer programmer Andrus Nomm, of Estonia, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit felony copyright infringement and was sentenced to one year and one day in U.S. federal prison.
Kim Dotcom, the controversial internet entrepreneur and founder of the file-sharing website Megaupload, has been embroiled in a legal battle with the United States for over a decade. After 12 years of fighting extradition from New Zealand to face charges of copyright infringement, money laundering, and racketeering, Dotcom’s long and arduous battle has finally come to an end.
Dotcom’s legal troubles began in 2012 when New Zealand authorities, acting on a request from the US government, raided his mansion in Auckland and arrested him on charges related to his involvement in Megaupload. The website, which allowed users to share and download files, was accused of facilitating copyright infringement on a massive scale, costing the entertainment industry billions of dollars in lost revenue.
Since then, Dotcom has been fighting extradition to the US, arguing that he should not be held responsible for the actions of Megaupload users and that he would not receive a fair trial in the United States. Over the years, he has faced numerous legal challenges and setbacks, including having his assets frozen and being denied access to funds to pay for his defense.
Despite these obstacles, Dotcom has remained defiant and continued to fight for his right to stay in New Zealand. In 2017, a New Zealand court ruled that he could be extradited to the US, but Dotcom appealed the decision and continued to fight the case through various legal avenues.
In a surprising turn of events, on July 5th, 2021, the New Zealand Supreme Court announced that it would not hear Dotcom’s final appeal, effectively bringing an end to his 12-year battle to prevent extradition. Dotcom’s legal team expressed disappointment at the decision but vowed to continue fighting for justice.
The case has sparked debate about the balance between protecting intellectual property rights and ensuring a fair legal process for individuals accused of copyright infringement. Supporters of Dotcom argue that he is being unfairly targeted by the US government and that his extradition would set a dangerous precedent for internet freedom.
On the other hand, critics of Dotcom point to the evidence against him and argue that he should be held accountable for his role in facilitating copyright infringement through Megaupload. They believe that his extradition is necessary to send a message to others who may engage in similar illegal activities online.
Regardless of where one stands on the issue, it is clear that Kim Dotcom’s 12-year battle to prevent deportation from New Zealand has come to an end. The outcome of this case will have far-reaching implications for internet freedom, copyright enforcement, and the rights of individuals accused of online piracy. Only time will tell what the final chapter in this long and complex legal saga will hold.
