Kim Dotcom Loses Another Appeal Against Extradition to the US. Kim Dotcom has suffered another legal defeat in New Zealand in his long-running fight against extradition to the United States. The Court of Appeal in Wellington rejected his appeal and upheld the previous extradition decision. The judges also found that extradition would not violate Section 9 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act, which prohibits torture and inhuman treatment. According to the court, such treatment is not expected if Dotcom is extradited to the US. Dotcom, born Kim Schmitz in Kiel, Germany, now has only one remaining legal option: an appeal to the Supreme Court of New Zealand. The US authorities accuse him of large-scale copyright infringement and money laundering connected to the former file-sharing platform Megaupload. Users allegedly used Megaupload to exchange copyrighted films, TV shows and music without permission. If convicted in the US, Dotcom could face decades in prison. New Zealand’s Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith signed the extradition order around 2 years ago. Since then, Dotcom has tried to stop the extradition through several legal steps. The case has been ongoing for more than 10 years. Dotcom has also repeatedly pointed to health problems. In late 2024, he said he had suffered a serious stroke. Megaupload was once one of the most visited websites in the world. The platform generated revenue through advertising and paid premium accounts before it was shut down in 2012 after FBI investigations. Dotcom became known in the hacker scene in the 1990s and later became a wealthy internet entrepreneur through Megaupload. In 2002, he was also convicted in Munich for insider trading and received a suspended sentence and a fine. Today, he is mainly known for stealing content and tweet strange stuff on X.