Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom has lost his latest court battle against extradition from New Zealand to the United States. New Zealand's Court of Appeal upheld the decision that Dotcom and three others can be extradited to stand trial for copyright infringement and fraud.
The charges relate to Dotcom's now-defunct file-sharing website Megaupload, which allowed millions of people to download digital content. Dotcom and his co-accused have consistently denied the US charges.
It is now up to New Zealand's Justice Minister Andrew Little to decide whether extradition should take place. Dotcom's lawyer, Ira Rothken, tweeted: "We will seek review with the NZ Supreme Court."
The US claims that 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). In an earlier court battle, the High Court agreed that the accused could not be extradited based on alleged copyright infringement alone, as online communication of copyright-protected works to the public is not a criminal offence in New Zealand. However, the four could be extradited on fraud charges, as those are crimes in New Zealand.
The latest ruling does not determine guilt or innocence, merely that the defendants can be sent to the US to stand trial.
