Wellington - The legal saga over the extradition of former
internet mogul Kim Dotcom was set for a final showdown at a five-day
appeal hearing that began in New Zealand's Supreme Court on Monday.
In December 2015 Auckland's District Court ruled that Dotcom, founder
of the file-sharing service Megaupload, and his associates were
eligible for extradition to the United States to face criminal
charges including conspiracy to commit racketeering, copyright
infringement, money laundering and wire fraud.
The decision was upheld by the country's High Court in February 2017
and the Court of Appeal in June 2018.
If the Supreme Court should find that Dotcom as well as associates
Mathias Ortmann, Finn Batato and Bram van der Kolk are eligible for
extradition, the final decision still lies with New Zealand's Justice
Minister.
Dotcom wrote on Twitter on Monday, "in 2005 I created a website that
allowed people to upload files to the cloud.
"At the time only small files could be attached to emails. Megaupload
allowed users to email a link to a file. That's it.
"In 2019 the NZ Supreme Court decides if I should be extradited for
this 'crime'," he added.
The tech mogul, born as Kim Schmitz in Kiel in Germany, has been
resident in New Zealand since 2010.
His website Megaupload made millions from advertising and premium
subscriptions. At its peak, Megaupload was the 13th most popular site
on the internet and accounted for 4 per cent of all online traffic.
Dotcom and three of his former colleagues could face decades in jail
if extradited to the US and found guilty.
The hearing is expected to last until Friday.