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High Court rules Dotcom, co-accused eligible for extradion

Monday 20 February 2017 04:30 PM

NZ High Court rules Dotcom, co-accused eligible for extradition

By Rebecca Howard

Feb. 20 (BusinessDesk) - Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom and his three co-accused are eligible for extradition to the USnited States, New Zealand's High Court ruled in a judgment published today.

Justice Murray Gilbert upheld a decision by the District Court that there were grounds for Dotcom, Mathias Ortmann, Bram van der Kolk and Finn Batato to be extradited.

The US claims Ortmann, van der Kolk, Dotcom and Batato and others were members of a worldwide criminal organisation that engaged in criminal copyright infringement and money laundering on a massive scale with estimated loss to copyright holders well in excess of US$500 million. The case has been touted as one of the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States.

It is seeking to extradite the four on 13 charges, including allegations of conspiracy to commit racketeering, copyright infringement, money laundering and wire fraud, among others relating to his now-defunct file-sharing business Megaupload.

"I agree with the District Court Judge that the evidence summarised in the record of the case is sufficient to establish a prima facie case on all counts. I also agree with his ultimate conclusion that the appellants are eligible for extradition on all counts for which their surrender is sought," said Justice Gilbert in the ruling.

He did, however, accept the appellants’ argument that online communication of copyright protected works to the public is not a criminal offence in New Zealand and therefore "this section does not provide an extradition pathway in this case."

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However, "I have concluded that the appellants are not correct in asserting that the general criminal law fraud provisions in the Crimes Act cannot apply in cases of copyright infringement and that such cases can only be prosecuted under the Copyright Act," he said. The Crimes Act provisions, in combination with the Extradition Act, "provide other extradition pathways."

In an interview with the New Zealand Herald, Dotcom called the ruling a "major victory" because it ruled that there was no New Zealand equivalent to the US criminal charges of copyright violation.

"The major part of this litigation has been won by this judgment - that copyright is not extraditable," he said. Dotcom told the New Zealand Herald he is "confident going with this judgment to the Court of Appeal."

Dotcom has had permanent residence in New Zealand since 2010, after moving to the country from Hong Kong. In early 2012, his rented mansion in Coatesville, Auckland, was the subject of a dramatic raid by New Zealand police, executing warrants issued by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. Numerous court actions proceeded from there as Dotcom and his co-accused fought extradition.

In 2014, Dotcom formed the Internet Party to contest the New Zealand general election that year, forming a coalition with the left-wing Mana Party in a marriage of political convenience that backfired on both parties, neither of which gained parliamentary representation. His marriage subsequently dissolved, he left the mansion for a central city apartment and has kept a lower profile since.

(BusinessDesk)

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