A New Zealand judge ruled Wednesday that Internet entrepreneur Kim Ditcom is eligible for extradition to the U.S. where he faces criminal charges related to money laundering, racketeering and breach of copyright charges.
Following a nine-week hearing, Judge Nevin Dawson said Dotcom, as well as his three former business associates - Mathias Ortmann, Finn Batato and Bram van der Kolk - are eligible for extradition after finding "overwhelming" evidence to support the move, according to CNN.
The ruling puts an end to a four-year battle by the group to avoid their fate. This battle dates back to early 2012 when Dotcom was arrested and his Auckland, New Zealand home raided as a result of his activities and involvement with Megaupload, which granted users access to copyrighted material online material.
Throughout the case, prosecutors alleged that the four had earned millions by running the site, which was largely funded by revenue from publishing copyright-infringing files, reported ZDNet. Furthermore, they said the website paid money for people to upload such files and then forced users to pay to watch them.
It's believed that in total, Megaupload netted $175 million in criminal proceeds while costing copyright owners at least $500 million.
However, Dotcom argued that Megaupload was a legitimate file-sharing site and shouldn't be held responsible for copyright-infringing files that appeared on the site since it had 50 million daily users and couldn't control every aspect of their activity within reason, according to AFP.
It's noted that at it's peak, the site was the 13th most visted site on the Internet, accounting for four percent of all Internet traffic.
In the meantime, Dotcom's legal team intends to appeal the decision: "The team looks forward to having the U.S. request for extradition reviewed in the High Court. We have no other comments at this time."
