Kim Dotcom's extradition to US cleared by New Zealand judge; Guardian, 12/22/15

Guardian; Kim Dotcom's extradition to US cleared by New Zealand judge:

"A New Zealand court has ruled that Kim Dotcom, the Megaupload founder, can be extradited to the United States to face charges of copyright infringement, racketeering and money laundering.

The decision, which can be appealed, comes almost four years after New Zealand police first raided Dotcom’s mansion west of Auckland at the behest of the FBI. US authorities shut down the entrepreneur’s file-sharing website, which had been used to illegally download songs and movies...

US authorities say Dotcom and three co-accused Megaupload executives cost film studios and record companies more than US$500m and generated more than US$175m in profits by encouraging their paying users to store and share copyrighted material, such as movies and TV shows.

The New Zealand prosecution, which argued the case for the US government, said Dotcom and his executives had encouraged and paid users to upload the pirated films and music to generate profit."