Kim Dotcom is brought to the USA via Megaupload to face trial

Kim Dotcom will be extradited to the United States to face long-standing criminal charges related to his defunct file-sharing service Megaupload, according to a statement signed by New Zealand's Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith. Thingsand said he had received “extensive advice from the Department of Justice on this matter” and that “Mr. Dotcom should be extradited to the United States to face trial.”

Dotcom (born Kim Schmitz) was the founder and former CEO of Megaupload and was accused by U.S. authorities of costing movie studios and record labels over $500 million by allowing users to share pirated content. The German-born internet mogul moved to New Zealand in 2010 and has been fighting extradition since 2012, when local police raided his Auckland mansion on organized crime, money laundering and copyright infringement charges at the behest of the FBI. The Justice Department shut down Megaupload that same year.

Dotcom, who has spread various conspiracy theories and digital disinformation in recent years, reacted to the deportation order on X by saying: “The obedient US colony in the South Pacific has just decided to extradite me for what users uploaded to Megaupload without asking.” Two former Megaupload employees, Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk, were sentenced to 31 and 30 months in prison respectively last year after signing a deal to avoid extradition.