New Zealand Says Kim Dotcom Eligible For Extradition; Dotcom To Appeal

This doesn't come as a huge surprise, but minutes ago in New Zealand Judge Nevin Dawson gave the US Justice Department a bit of an early Christmas present in declaring that Kim Dotcom and his co-defendants in the Megaupload case are eligible for extradition, following the long extradition trial earlier this year. The judge apparently said that the evidence was "overwhelming" against the defendants. This does not mean that Dotcom and crew are boarding a plane across the Pacific just yet. They have 15 days to file an appeal and Dotcom's lawyers have already indicated that such an appeal is on the way (what did you expect?). Dotcom's lawyer Ira Rothken points out that under New Zealand's extradition agreement with the US, there is no extradition over copyright issues -- and argues this ruling renders such a safe harbor "illusory." Of course, even if that fails, there's still a separate process for approving the actual extradition, which would take place with New Zealand's Justice Minister, but that part of the process is more of a formality than anything else. It's not over yet, but at this point things are leaning strongly towards Dotcom and his colleagues being shipped to Virginia to face a US criminal trial. Permalink | Comments | Email This Story