Slump for Kim Dotcom in the fight against extradition in the United States

Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom has suffered a new slap in the fight against his imminent extradition to the United States. An appeal court in New Zealand confirmed on Thursday a verdict, according to which the founder of the online service Megaupload and three of his colleagues could be transferred to trial. The Dotcom lawyer was disappointed. He announced that he would go to the Supreme Court of New Zealand.

In 2012, US prosecutors closed down the file sharing service of dazzling entrepreneur Kiel. Kim Dotcom and his colleagues are accused of conspiracy, illegal business and money laundering because the website would have allowed millions of illegal downloads of music, television series and movies. According to US prosecutors, at least $ 175 million would have hit the once very popular site. In case of conviction, the accused incurs a sentence of imprisonment of several tens of years.

Dotcom's lawyer, Ira Rothken, wrote that he and his client had already been to three courts and that each time there was a different legal badysis. Once, it was even ruled that there had never been an infringement of an author's right. Rothken said he was appealing to the highest court in New Zealand.

Born in Germany, Dotcom has been living in New Zealand for years and has a wife and five children there. In the dispute, he argues that he can not be held responsible for the behavior of users. Plus, he had never visited the United States, let alone lived there or had a business.

Dotcom founded Megaupload in 2005. Before obtaining his permanent residence in New Zealand five years later, he was living temporarily in a hotel in Hong Kong. In 2012, he was arrested in a dramatic raid on his property and jailed for months before being released on bail. Since then, Dotcom has released a music album and founded a new file-sharing service called Mega and a Political Party