WELLINGTON, New Zealand—Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom and three co-defendants are eligible to be extradited to the U.S. to face charges including criminal copyright infringement, money laundering and conspiracy to commit racketeering, a New Zealand court ruled on Wednesday.
Speaking to media outside court Mr. Dotcom said Wednesday’s decision wasn't the last word on the matter. “We will go through the whole process until the very end.”
Mr. Dotcom and fellow defendants Finn Batato, Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk have already lodged appeals, which will be heard in the High Court.
His New Zealand-based lawyer Ron Mansfield told The Wall Street Journal that Mr. Dotcom is positive he can succeed in the higher courts in New Zealand. “We’ve just got through the starter’s gates, we haven’t lost the race. We remain pretty confident.”
However, Mr. Mansfield said the appeals process could drag on for several years.
“I think that if we were successful for example in the High Court, then the United States would appeal to the Court of Appeal, and vice versa. I think today if the United States had lost then they would be appealing.”
Mr. Mansfield said the next step would be an appeal to the Court of Appeal, followed by New Zealand’s highest court, the Supreme Court—which is where he believes the case will end up.
“This is a case that is destined for the Supreme Court and we knew that. Both sides knew that the decision today wasn’t going to have much impact on the overall outcome of the case. It will be rigorously reviewed in the higher courts of our country.”
Under New Zealand’s Extradition Act, once all court action has been exhausted the final decision on whether the men will be extradited lies with Justice Minister Amy Adams.
The four men face the charges in the U.S. due to their involvement in file-sharing site Megaupload. The four men have consistently maintained their innocence, and have carried out a protracted legal fight to prevent extradition.
The U.S. Justice Department’s case alleges that the four men knew Megaupload was reproducing and distributing copyrighted works and failed to delete the infringing files or terminate access to them. The company behind the “cyberlocker” site had long been considered by the entertainment industry and prosecutors to be a leading conduit for pirated content.
During the hearing, which wrapped up almost a month ago, the defense argued that the prosecution had to show there was reason to believe a criminal offense may have been committed under both U.S. and New Zealand law to grant an extradition.
Mr. Mansfield said he thinks the District Court got the legal analysis wrong as to whether there is a proper legal foundation to say an offense has been committed in the U.S. “We say there is not, let alone one here in New Zealand.”
“We’re still confident that following a rigorous review of this decision we can get the High Court to determine that the District Court is wrong on a simple legal analysis,” said Mr. Mansfield.
Mr. Dotcom, a German-born businessman who changed his name from Kim Schmitz, rose to prominence in New Zealand after his arrest in January 2012 at the behest of U.S. authorities. He was released on bail in February of that year.
Mr. Dotcom has since launched a new version of Megaupload called Mega, formed a political party, launched a record, and sought to garner support through various publicity efforts such as handing out free ice cream.
Source - wsj
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