Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom has lost his latest court battle against extradition from New Zealand to the US.
New Zealand's Court of Appeal upheld the decision that Mr Dotcom and three others can be extradited to stand trial for copyright infringement and fraud. The charges relate to his now-defunct file-sharing website Megaupload, which allowed millions of people to download digital content.
In an earlier High Court ruling, the judge agreed that the accused could not be extradited based solely on copyright infringement, as online communication of copyrighted works is not a criminal offence in New Zealand. However, extradition could proceed on fraud charges, which are crimes in New Zealand.
The latest ruling does not determine guilt or innocence, only that the defendants can be sent to the US. It is now up to New Zealand's Justice Minister Andrew Little to decide whether extradition should take place. Mr Dotcom's lawyer said they would seek review with the NZ Supreme Court.
