MegaUpload: hearing delayed until 2013

The hearing into the MegaUpload founder’s extradition hearing will no longer take place next month. This has now been delayed until March 2013.

Currently free on bail in New Zealand, Kim Dotcom will no longer face court in August as planned. Initially scheduled for the 6th of August, his extradition hearing to the United States has been delayed until the 25th of March 2013.

This delay is not going to please him though as he continues to suffer from the complot charges being levelled at him by the United States. For MegaUpload’s founder, this delay is a "dirty tactic". "They destroyed my business. Took all my assets. Time does the rest".

On Twitter, the man also takes aim at the New Zealand government who has refused one of its residents "a fair hearing".

Kim Dotcom’s lawyers have nevertheless accepted this delay. This has come about following a number of decisions taken by New Zealand’s High Court judge hearing the matter who believes that the search warrants served during the raid on Kim Dotcom’s residence near Auckland were illegal.

The defence states that they need more time while they continue to put pressure on the plaintiff’s lawyers in the USA to see the proof that they have against Kim which will be used during his US hearing.

German born, the 38 year old Kim Dotcom (his real name is Kim Schmitz) has been accused in the United States of being the brains behind a group (seven individuals in total) which took in 175 million dollars since 2005 by copying and illegally distributing copyright protected works (films, music, software, books).

According to MegaUpload’s lawyers, this was a simple online storage service, although copyright holders say that the host has cost them more than 500 million dollars.

MegaUpload was closed by American authorities on the 19th of January 2012. Arrested in New Zealand, Kim Dotcom spent close to four weeks in prison before being released on bail. This situation will therefore stay the same until the 25th of March 2013.

With racketeering and money laundering charges over his head, Kim Dotcom is facing 20 years prison in the United States.

Last week, Kim Dotcom used Twitter to announce Mega’s return.