Kim Dotcom will eventually be extradited from New Zealand to the United States to be brought to court because of his involvement in setting up the Megaupload site. He and three other individuals were allegedly involved in online fraud, copyright infringement on a commercial scale and money laundering through Megaupload.
The Megaupload site opened in 2005 allows users to save files online which can then be shared with other users through links. It quickly became a popular repository of pirated software, video games, movies, TV series and music.
Megaupload operations ceased on January 19, 2012 after the domain was taken over by the United States Department of Justice for copyright infringement. Kim Dotcom then immediately launched the new Mega site which is still operating to this day.
Kim Dotcom was then detained in New Zealand but successfully resisted efforts to extradite him since 2012 because copyright infringement is not a crime in that country. He also said he was not to blame because the copyright infringement was committed by Megaupload users and not the owners of the service. The New Zealand court agreed with his opinion and he was released.
The extradition order was only given today after it was issued by New Zealand's Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith with Kim Dotcom's deportation process already underway.