Kim Dotcom wins right to livestream extradition appeal

Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom has been given the right to livestream an appeal against his extradition from New Zealand to the US, where he is wanted on charges of copyright infringement, racketeering and money-laundering.

Dotcom, who founded and ran the Megaupload file-sharing site, praised the judge who granted him permission as "brave", while his lawyer said the decision was "democracy at its finest".

The businessman also took to Twitter to hail New Zealand as being "at the forefront of transparent Justice [sic]".

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According to the BBC's Dave Lee, this is a "major victory" for Dotcom, who will hope to "build support" by opening his trial up, rather than relying on traditional media to tell the story.

At one time, Megaupload had millions of users storing files, downloading movies and sharing music, says the BBC. While operating at best in a legal grey area, Dotcom ran the business as if it were mainstream, with advertising and celebrity tie-ins.

The FBI took control of the site and all its subdivisions in January 2012. Prosecutors say Dotcom's business had cost film studios, music labels and other copyright holders more than $500m (£382m) in lost revenue, the broadcaster adds.

The saga of Dotcom's attempts to resist extradition and remain in his adopted homeland of New Zealand has run for years. A raid on his Auckland home by New Zealand police at the behest of the US authorities made headlines in 2012.

Police at the time justified the involvement of elite anti-terrorism officers by saying – among other reasons – that the corpulent Doctom had previously assaulted one of his employees with his bulging stomach.

At almost six feet and six inches tall and weighing around 25 stone, Dotcom is certainly an imposing physical presence.

He is also a larger-than-life character, legally changing his surname from Schmitz in 2005 "in homage" to the technology bubble that made him a millionaire, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Kim Dotcom facing extradition to US after latest ruling

23 December

A New Zealand judge has ordered that internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom should be extradited to the United States to face charges over the alleged large-scale copyright infringement on his former file-sharing site, Megaupload.

German-born Dotcom currently lives in New Zealand, and has been fighting the extradition for almost four years after New Zealand police raided his home at the request of the FBI.

Dotcom, whose birth name is Kim Schmitz, made millions on the stock market before moving into tech. His legal troubles came about after he founded the controversial file storage website Megaupload, which became a hub of illegal trading of copyrighted materials, such as TV shows and films. In 2012, the site was shut down by the US Department of Justice.

US authorities allege that Megaupload "generated more than $175 million in criminal proceeds and caused more than half a billion dollars in harm to copyright owners". Dotcom has always maintained that the site was not intended to bypass intellectual property laws, saying that users agreed to terms and conditions that included a ban on uploading copyrighted material.

The latest ruling, which Dotcom's legal team is likely to appeal, would see Dotcom and the three co-accused transported to the US, where they are accused of being members of "an international organised criminal enterprise ('the Mega Conspiracy')", the BBC reports.

The 13 charges against Dotcom include racketeering, wire fraud and copyright infringement. If convicted, he would face a lengthy prison term.

After losing the case, Dotcom, who calls himself an "internet freedom fighter", took to Twitter to thank supporters and criticise the legal standing of the ruling against him, calling it "weak" and a "Christmas gift in disguise".