Key Takeaways
- Megaupload was seized in 2012 for hosting pirated content.
- Kim Dotcom faces extradition to the United States on multiple charges.
- Dotcom has vowed not to withdraw from New Zealand and is likely to appeal.
Kim Dotcom, former owner of the hugely popular file-sharing website Megaupload has been notified that he will be extradited to the United States, where he will Piracy, Money launderingand BlackmailAccording to a staff report, New Zealand Minister for Justice Paul Goldsmith He signed an extradition order to deport Kim Dotcom to the United States.
The tech entrepreneur is originally from Germany but has been living in New Zealand since 2010 and has been fighting extradition since the US Department of Justice seized Megaupload. File sharing The New Zealand government ultimately agreed to Dotcom’s extradition, and Goldsmith said: “We have determined that Mr Dotcom should be extradited to the United States to stand trial.”
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What is Megaupload and why was it shut down?
File-sharing sites were popular for pirated content
Megaupload was a file-sharing site that operated from 2005 to 2012, in which it was seized by the US Department of Justice. As the name suggests, the site allowed anyone to upload files and made them available for anyone to download. While there are many legitimate uses for this type of service, unsurprisingly, the site quickly became one of the most popular sites for uploading and downloading pirated content.
The lawsuit against Kim.com has estimated damages to copyright holders at well over $500 million.
According to Megaupload’s indictment, the site was once 13th most frequently visited site on the Internetwith a total of over 1 billion visits, 180 million registered usersAt peak times, average 50 million visits per day And created the surroundings 4% of all internet trafficAll of this inevitably meant that Kim.com made a lot of money through subscription fees and advertising, and lawsuits against Kim.com have estimated damages to copyright holders at well over $500 million.
The rise of affordable streaming services Spotify and Netflix Easy and affordable access to legal content has significantly reduced the popularity of online piracy, but it’s still around and may become popular again as companies like Netflix and Disney+ continue to offer it. Increase the price There are efforts to crack down on account sharing, but it’s nowhere near the levels seen in the heyday of Megaupload and RapidShare.
It’s unlikely to happen anytime soon
It has already taken 12 years since the US indicted Kim Dotcom in 2012 for an extradition order to be finally signed to face trial in the US, but it is likely to take a little longer.
Kim Dotcom has the right to appeal the decision to extradite him to the US, and it is no wonder that this appears to be exactly his plan.
The tech billionaire has already made it clear on Twitter that he has no plans to go quietly. In two posts, Dotcom said he has plans, that he loves New Zealand, and that he has no plans to leave.
The case is likely to drag on for some time, as the appeals aren’t going to end anytime soon. While Dotcom has consistently maintained that he shouldn’t be held liable for the content that users choose to upload to Megaupload, the US Department of Justice alleges that not only did Megaupload employees know that the site was being used to host copies of infringing content, but some of those same employees also used the site to upload copyrighted works themselves.
It remains to be seen whether this attempt to extradite Kim Dotcom to the US will be successful, but the saga continues more than a decade after Megaupload was shut down.
