MEGAUPLOAD SERVER BOSS TO BE EXTRADITED TO THE U.S. BY NEW ZEALAND FOR PROSECUTION

New Zealand is to extradite internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom, founder of Megaupload, one of the biggest and most popular sites for sharing pirated content on the internet, to the United States for prosecution. British public broadcaster BBC reported that New Zealand's Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith signed the extradition order, making Dotcom the loser of his long legal battle.

Dotcom, born Kim Schmitz in Germany, made huge money from internet piracy, according to US authorities, who say Dotcom and his associates defrauded movie studios and record labels of more than half a billion dollars (11.5 billion kronor) and made more than $175 million selling advertising and premium subscriptions. But Dotcom claimed he had no control over the content users uploaded to Megaupload. The server was blocked by authorities in 2012.

New Zealand police arrested the entrepreneur in January 2012 at the request of US authorities. Dotcom spent a month in custody before being released to house arrest. He has repeatedly defended himself in New Zealand courts against extradition to the United States.

U.S. authorities accuse him of several crimes, including copyright infringement and money laundering. He could face years in prison.

In relation to his extradition to the US, Dotcom wrote that "the obedient US colony in the South Pacific decided to extradite me because of what users were uploading to Megaupload".

At its peak, Megaupload was the 13th most popular site on the Internet.

Source: idnes.cz