Internet mogul Kim Dotcom vows to fight extradition to US

Internet mogul Kim Dotcom vowed to fight a New Zealand court ruling Wednesday that he can be extradited to the United States where he is wanted on piracy-related charges.

Michael Bradley

After a nine-week hearing Judge Nevin Dawson found there was "overwhelming" evidence to support extradition of the 41-year-old and three other Megaupload founders. Dawson said the four had 15 days to file an appeal, but Dotcom, who has spent four years battling the case, said outside Auckland's North Shore District Court that he had acted immediately.


"This is not the last word on the matter. We've filed an appeal," the German national told reporters. "I'm disappointed. That's all I have to say and I wish everybody a very merry Christmas. I'm going home now."
New Zealand Justice Minister Amy Adams, who will have to approve any extradition, would not be drawn on the court ruling.

"As the court's decision may be appealed, it would be inappropriate for me to comment further at this time." she said. If extradited and found guilty by a US court, Kim faces up to 20 years in jail for offering pirated content American authorities say cost copyright owners hundreds of millions of dollars.

Dotcom argued Megaupload was a genuine file-sharing site which did its best to police copyright infringement but had 50 million daily users and could not control every aspect of their activity. He has accused US authorities of pursuing a vendetta against him on behalf of politically influential Hollywood studios.

The judge said Megaupload at its peak was the 13th most popular site on the Internet, accounting for four percent of all online traffic. In 2010, it is estimated Dotcom earned $42m, his co-accused Mathias Ortmann $9m, Bram van der Kolk $2m and Finn Batato $400 000.