There have been new developments in the case of Kim Dotcom. A New Zealand judge, Monday, moved forward with Kim Dotcom and three colleagues extradition to the U. S. to face criminal charges. Dotcom has been battling extradition in a case that has been moving quite slow. Dotcom and his lawyers will most likely appeal to the New Zealand Supreme Court which will prolong the case one to two years.
U. S. prosecutors say Dotcom’s sharing site MegaUpload brought in at least $175 million from site visitors illegally downloading music, film, and television shows. In 2015, New Zealand Court ruled that Dotcom and his colleagues, former Megaupload officers Mathias Ortmann, Bram van der Kolk, and Finn Batato, were eligible for an extradition of these charges.
Though the court agreed with the major part of their appeal that -copyright infringement on its own isn’t an offense that warrants extradition-it did rule that the men could be extradited on conspiracy. The U. S. upholds that the site cost copyright holders, more that $500 million, some being Hollywood movie studios.
Prosecutors claim Dotcom talked about being a “modern-day Pirate” and “evil” and were part of a conspiracy to profit from copyright infringement. Dotcom responds that he can’t be held responsible for what other decide to do with the content on his site.
The documentary film chronicles Dotcom’s success and downfall. With these new developments, the film will give audiences a closer insight to the case that is unraveling before their eyes. The Film is set to make its SXSW Film Festival debut March 13th.
