MegaUpload founder Kim Dotcom will be extradited to the US to face criminal copyright charges in relation to the former file-transfer platform, the New Zealand government has announced. Although that decision could still be subject to appeal.
Authorities in the US have been trying to extradite NZ resident Dotcom ever since the shutdown of MegaUpload back in 2012 over allegations he facilitated and encouraged rampant copyright infringement via his former business. After more than a decade of legal wrangling, New Zealand’s Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has finally signed the extradition order.
“I considered all of the information carefully and have decided that Mr Dotcom should be surrendered to the US to face trial”, Goldsmith said in a statement. “As is common practice, I have allowed Mr Dotcom a short period of time to consider and take advice on my decision. I will not, therefore, be commenting further at this stage”.
Preempting the government's announcement earlier this week, Dotcom remarked on X, “The obedient US colony in the South Pacific just decided to extradite me for what users uploaded to MegaUpload”. Subsequent to the formal announcement, he posted “I love New Zealand - I’m not leaving”, adding “don’t worry I have a plan”.
Since 2012, Dotcom’s plan has been to employ every possible legal technicality in a bid to avoid facing charges in a US court. He insists that MegaUpload was no more liable for the copyright infringement that occurred on its networks than DropBox or YouTube are for the copyright infringement that occurs on theirs.
Though, as the New Zealand courts considered the US’s application to have Dotcom extradited, much of the debate centred on whether his alleged crimes are covered by the extradition treaty between the two countries. Copyright infringement is not, but conspiracy to defraud - through the facilitation and encouragement of copyright infringement - is.
Dotcom fought the extradition claim all the way through to the NZ Supreme Court, which ultimately ruled that there were sufficient grounds for extradition. The matter then passed to the office of the Justice Minister, who has to sign off on any extradition orders.
Originally the US was seeking to extradite two of Dotcom’s former MegaUpload colleagues as well, Mathias Ortmann and Bram Van Der Kolk, but they reached a deal with prosecutors in 2022 that saw them plead guilty and serve some jail time within New Zealand.
The signing of the extradition order is a major development in this long-running saga. However, there are still more legal technicalities for Dotcom to employ, likely beginning with a judicial review of Goldsmith’s decision. Whether or not any of that is ultimately successful remains to be seen, but it does mean Dotcom is unlikely to be heading to the US anytime soon.
If the case does ever get to court, it will put the US copyright safe harbour very much in the spotlight, as Dotcom will argue MegaUpload benefited from the exact same protections from liability for infringement as Dropbox and YouTube.
The US music and movie industries also have civil copyright infringement lawsuits against MegaUpload pending, which had long been paused to allow the criminal case to proceed.
