PANews August 16 news, according to Decrypt, New Zealand Attorney General Paul Goldsmith announced on Thursday that Kim Dotcom, the founder of the defunct file-sharing website Megaupload, will be extradited from New Zealand to the United States after 12 years of legal proceedings. Goldsmith said in a statement: "I have carefully considered all the information and decided to hand over Dotcom to the United States for trial." Dotcom has refused extradition since he was charged by the FBI in 2012. Kim Dotcom said after learning that he would be extradited: "I love New Zealand and I will not leave." Dotcom said on Thursday that he doubted the possibility of his extradition to the United States. He posted two posts on social media, suggesting that he will continue to resist the increasing legal pressure to force him to leave his adopted homeland, New Zealand, where he was granted residency in 2010.

In 2012, German-born Dotcom was arrested in New Zealand for alleged criminal activity related to the now-defunct file-sharing service Megaupload. He also founded the blockchain-based micropayments company Bitcache, which went bankrupt more than a year ago due to unpaid bills. U.S. authorities allege that Dotcom and his associates encouraged Megaupload users to share illegal copies of content such as music, TV shows and movies, bringing in at least $175 million. The U.S. Department of Justice shut down Megaupload in January 2012, and authorities are preparing to bring charges against those who operated the site. According to the indictment in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Dotcom faces two criminal charges of copyright infringement, in addition to one count of conspiracy to commit racketeering, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement. If convicted, Dotcom faces up to 50 years in prison.