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What just happened? It's been quite a while since Kim Dotcom made headlines. The founder of the defunct file-sharing site Megaupload has been fighting extradition from New Zealand to the US for 12 years, but he has finally lost the battle. However, the German-born internet mogul says he's not leaving.
In 2012, the US Justice Department charged Dotcom for the creation and operation of Megaupload, a file-sharing platform that had been operating from 2005 to 2012. At its peak, Megaupload reportedly accounted for four percent of all traffic on the Internet and had as many as 50 million daily visitors.
The FBI ordered a raid on his Auckland mansion in the same year as his arrest – Dotcom has New Zealand residency – and he has been fighting extradition to the US ever since.
A New Zealand court ruled in 2015 that Dotcom is eligible to be extradited to the US, the first step in a long-running battle. Extradition was approved in 2017, and though Dotcom appealed, a court upheld the ruling in 2018 – the same year he launched a lawsuit against New Zealand over claims he had lost $6.8 billion from his businesses due to the raid, having his assets seized, and damage to his reputation.
The country's supreme court affirmed the extradition ruling in 2020, but there were more reviews to come. Now, New Zealand Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has signed an extradition order for Dotcom.
"I considered all of the information carefully, and have decided that Mr. Dotcom should be surrendered to the US to face trial," said Goldsmith. "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."
Dotcom seems unwilling to obey the ruling, writing on X that "I love New Zealand. I'm not leaving." He also told fans not to worry as he has "a plan."
Oops ð¬ Don't worry I have a plan ð pic.twitter.com/1ow9drHcfv
– Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) August 15, 2024
"The obedient US colony in the South Pacific just decided to extradite me for what users uploaded to Megaupload, unsolicited, and what copyright holders were able to remove with direct delete access instantly and without question," Dotcom claimed in another post.
The US debt and money printing system is collapsing. The West is heading into an economic wasteland. The Middle East is on fire. Russia dominates Ukraine and NATO. BRICS is ending US hegemony and the fake 'rules-based order'. US puppets are failing everywhere. Genocide,…
– Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) August 13, 2024
Dotcom faces charges of copyright infringement, money laundering, and racketeering. If convicted in the US, Dotcom and his former colleagues - Mathias Ortmann, Bram van der Kolk and Finn Batato – could be jailed for decades.
US authorities say Dotcom and the three other Megaupload executives cost film studios and record companies more than $500 million by encouraging paying users to store and share copyrighted material, generating more than $175 million in revenue for the platform.
A year after police arrested him in 2012, Dotcom launched an encrypted file storage service dubbed 'Mega', although he has not been involved with the company since at least 2015. He attempted to relaunch Megaupload in 2016.
Dotcom also launched a new venture called Bitcache that allowed people and businesses to sell content for Bitcoins. It went into liquidation last year due to unpaid legal fees.