Kim Dotcom, founder and CEO of defunct file hosting service Megaupload, revealed this week that his long-fought extradition to the United States was finally approved.
The verbose Dotcom informed his Twitter/X followers of the news in a grievance-filled post, alongside warnings of worldwide systemic collapse.
The extradition order was reportedly signed by New Zealand minister of justice Paul Goldsmith.
"I considered all of the information carefully, and have decided that Mr Dotcom should be surrendered to the US to face trial. As is common practice, I have allowed Mr Dotcom a short period of time to consider and take advice on my decision," a Goldsmith spokesperson told media.
Dotcom told his social media followers not to worry – he "has a plan."
"I love New Zealand. I'm not leaving," he added.
Dotcom indicated that his plan to stay in New Zealand – where he has been a permanent resident since 2010 – involves tying the extradition up in appeals until the world is "a very different place."
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It's easy to see why Dotcom would assume the extradition process may go on long enough to be considered indefinite. After all, he has been resisting extradition to the United States since 2012 – well past the relevance of his product. While a 2020 court decision upheld the request that he could be extradited, it would have required ministerial action to do so.
It's not known whether Goldsmith finally worked down to that portion of his to-do list, or simply faced enough external pressure.
The US asserts that the German-born entrepreneur and right-wing conspiracy theory aficionado made his fortune from digital piracy. Dotcom and his colleagues allegedly did little to prevent the sharing of copyrighted materials – even promoting it through paid incentives on the platform.
Dotcom and associates have maintained that just because they built the platform, that doesn't make them responsible for users' actions.
"The charge against you is like holding the postmaster responsible for illegal literature in a post office box – it's ridiculous," one supporter and/or potential bot commented on Tuesday.
Authorities shut down Megaupload in January 2012, and the US Department of Justice presented him and his co-defendants with a host of indictments that year.
Those charges included [PDF] conspiracy to commit racketeering, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit copyright infringement, criminal copyright infringement, aiding and abetting of criminal copyright infringement, and wire fraud.
Two of Dotcom's co-defendants pleaded guilty in exchange for an end to their extradition. They also agreed to assist US authorities.
Mathias Ortmann was sentenced to two years and seven months in 2023. Bram van der Kolk was sentenced to two years and six months.
Megaupload, now known as Mega, operates out of New Zealand as an online privacy service. Kim Dotcom has no connection with the business. ®