Key facts
- Kim Dotcom lost his latest appeal against extradition to the United States.
- The extradition is related to criminal charges concerning the Megaupload website.
- New Zealand's Court of Appeal ruled there was no legal basis to block the extradition.
- Dotcom has one remaining appeal option to the Supreme Court of New Zealand.
Kim Dotcom, founder of the defunct file-sharing website Megaupload, has lost his latest appeal in New Zealand to avoid extradition to the United States. The New Zealand Court of Appeal ruled on Wednesday that there was no legal basis to block his extradition, according to a copy of the judgment.
Dotcom, who has New Zealand residency, has been fighting extradition since 2012 following an FBI-ordered raid on his mansion. He was appealing a 2024 decision by New Zealand that he be extradited to the U.S. U.S. authorities allege that Dotcom and other Megaupload executives generated over $175 million in revenue for the website by encouraging users to store and share copyrighted material, costing film studios and record companies more than $500 million.
Dotcom has one final route to appeal the ruling, through the country's top court, the Supreme Court. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.