Kim Dotcom extradited to the US

Published 16 August 2024 at 11.21

Foreign. The German-Finnish Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom will be extradited from New Zealand to the United States after a twelve-year legal process. The decision was announced by New Zealand Attorney General Paul Goldsmith on Thursday.

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Kim Dotcom has been wanted by the US authorities for a long time for his role in the creation of the file-sharing site Megaupload, where users could download copyrighted material.

The profiler, who lives in New Zealand where he has permanent residency, has been fighting extradition attempts since 2012, when the US Federal Bureau of Investigation ordered a raid on his mansion in Auckland, leading to his arrest.

New Zealand Attorney General Goldsmith says he “carefully considered all the information” before deciding Dotcom should be extradited to the US to face trial. He also states that Dotcom has been given a short deadline to consider and take advice on the decision.

On social media, Dotcom – who is a seasoned US critic – expressed his frustration with the decision, calling New Zealand a ” obedient American colony in the Pacific”.

He also states that he has “a plan” and that he will not leave New Zealand.

< p lang="en" dir="ltr">I love New Zealand. I'm not leaving 😘

— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) August 15, 2024

It all started because I became a large donor to @Wikileaks after Julian revealed US war crimes with the collateral murder video. And the moment I got out on bail I created Mega and sent the first $100k I made to Wikileaks. I would do it all over again. Fuck the criminal US Govt. https://t.co/QcJvq7wM61

— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) August 15, 2024

US accuses Kim Dotcom and three other Megaupload executives of causing more than $500 million in damages to the movie and music industries by encouraging users to store and share copyrighted material. Megaupload reportedly generated more than $175 million in revenue.

Two of the other executives, Germans Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk, entered into settlements that allowed them to serve their sentences in New Zealand and thereby avoid extradition. The third, Finn Batato, died in New Zealand in 2022.