New Zealand court rules Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom can be extradited to U.S.

A New Zealand court threw out an appeal on Monday by German entrepreneur and Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom against his extradition to the United States to face racketeering and criminal copyright charges.

The Auckland High Court upheld a decision by a lower court in 2015 that Dotcom was eligible to be extradited, the New Zealand Herald reported earlier.

Dotcom's lawyer, Ron Mansfield, said in a statement they planned to appeal against the Auckland court's decision to New Zealand's Court of Appeal.

U.S. authorities say Dotcom and three co-accused Megaupload executives cost film studios and record companies more than $500 million and generated more than $175 million by encouraging paying users to store and share copyrighted material.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)