[ad_1]
WELLINGTON, New Zealand – The Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom lost another bid to avoid extradition to the United States on charges of copyright infringement and money laundering, after New Zealand's Court of Appeal on Thursday upheld rulings allowing for deportation.
Mr. Dotcom, an online renegade who along with three associates faces the charges relating to a defunct file-sharing website, Megaupload, plans to appeal the ruling.
His lawyer, Ira Rothken, said Mr. Dotcom would appeal to the Supreme Court, New Zealand's highest.
The internet mogul was arrested in 2012 as a result of a United States Department of Justice investigation into the piracy of numerous copyrighted works, including music and movies. He has been fighting extradition to the United States from New Zealand since then, and is out on bail in the country's largest city, Auckland.
United States prosecutors say the Megaupload site cost copyright holders $ 500 million in damages because of illegal downloads, and the website 's executives made $ 175 million for themselves by selling ads and premium subscriptions
Mr. Dotcom is a high-profile figure in New Zealand, known for his lavish public and displays of wealth, and for releasing an album and bankrolling an unsuccessful political party ahead of the country's 2014 election.
The Court of Appeal said in its decision that the United States against Mr. Dotcom and his associates – Matthias Ortmann, Bram van der Kolk and Finn Batato – were "both admissible and sufficient" to allow for the extradition of the four men. They face decades in prison if convicted in American courts.
The decision means that New Zealand lawmaker, the country's justice minister, Andrew Little, will decide whether Mr. Dotcom should be extradited after any Supreme Court appeals are exhausted. [19659002] Mr. He said that he was "confidant" the Supreme Court would hear the case "given there are such significant legal issues at stake."
Mr. Dotcom, who is from Germany and was originally named Kim Schmitz, was granted New Zealand residency on an investor visa in 2009 after having lived in Hong Kong.
Last year, he reached a settlement with the New Zealand police over a 2012 raid On the subject of the United States charges. (19659002) At the time, Mr. Dotcom called the manner of his arrest "a Hollywood-style publicity stunt tailored to appease U.S. authorities."
Mr. Dotcom is also suing the New Zealand government for millions of dollars, claiming lost business opportunities, investments and reputation as a result of its treatment of the
Source link
