Megaupload extradition decision postponed till 2013July 10, 2012 - 15:55 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A decision on whether Megaupload employees should be extradited to the U.S. on copyright and fraud charges has been delayed until 2013, according to BBC News. A New Zealand judge has postponed next month's hearing to allow more time to resolve legal arguments. It follows earlier rulings regarding the rights of the accused and the legality of a raid on the file-sharing site creator Kim Dotcom's mansion. The U.S. is set to appeal against both decisions. The case has been rescheduled provisionally for March 25. Dotcom has been accused of copyright theft, money laundering and racketeering fraud and faces a jail sentence of up to 20 years if convicted in the U.S. Prosecutors allege that pirated movies and other content shared through his site cost copyright holders more than $500m (£322m) in lost earnings, making it one of the biggest cases of its kind. They claim Megaupload's staff paid users "whom they specifically knew uploaded infringing content" and netted $175m in earnings as a result of the illegal activity. Dotcom's lawyers deny the charges saying the site simply offered an online storage service and that the majority of its traffic was "legitimate". The U.S. filed a formal request for the extradition of Dotcom and three of his associates in March but has faced a series of setbacks in New Zealand's courts. In May a judge said the U.S. should share the evidence it had gathered from its seizure of Megaupload's computer equipment before the extradition hearing to prevent it from becoming a "one-sided" affair. In June another judge ruled that the search warrants used to raid Mr Dotcom's home had been invalid because they had failed to "adequately describe" the offences being investigated. Dotcom is currently under house arrest at his Auckland home. He has been tweeting his thoughts since a ban preventing him using the internet was lifted in April. "Dirty delay tactics by the U.S.," he wrote after learning of the latest development. "They destroyed my business. Took all my assets. Time does the rest." Top stories Yerevan will host the 2024 edition of the World Congress On Information Technology (WCIT). Rustam Badasyan said due to the lack of such regulation, the state budget is deprived of VAT revenues. Krisp’s smart noise suppression tech silences ambient sounds and isolates your voice for calls. Gurgen Khachatryan claimed that the "illegalities have been taking place in 2020." Partner news Most popular in the section | U.S. warns Georgia not to side with Moscow against the west Georgia has been warned by the U.S. not to become an adversary of the west by falling back in line with Moscow. Power of One Dram sums up two-year program with Teach for Armenia Idram Junior also joined the companies during the visit, bringing with it a fascinating intellectual game for children Moscow slams EU mission in Armenia for “provocative activity” The EU mission is doing more and more against Armenia’s neighbors Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran, Mikhail Galuzin said. Yerevan Mayor to travel to Paris on May 15-19 The official delegation headed by Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan will travel to Paris from May 15 to 19. |