Extradition hearing of Megaupload boss on August 20

Megaupload.com founder Kim Dotcom is scheduled to have an August 20 hearing on his extradition to the US, where he is wanted on charges of involvement in the country's biggest copyright infringement conspiracy. The Ministry of Justice in New Zealand, where Dotcom, 38, was released on bail on Wednesday, announced the tentative date in an e-mailed statement. It declined to say whether the US, which had asked for Dotcom to be detained in New Zealand, has formally requested his extradition. Confidential details "Extradition requests are generally considered confidential diplomatic communications between state parties," Magila Annandale, a spokeswoman at the New Zealand ministry, said in the e-mail on Thursday. US prosecutors have dubbed the case a ‘Mega Conspiracy', accusing Dotcom's file-sharing website of generating more than $175 million (Dh642.81 million) in criminal proceeds from the exchange of pirated film, music, book and software files. In a revised indictment filed on February 17 in a US court in Alexandria, Virginia, Dotcom was charged with three new criminal copyright counts and five new wire-fraud counts. These are in addition to one count of racketeering, one count of conspiring to commit money laundering and two counts of criminal copyright infringement. The racketeering and money-laundering charges each carry maximum penalties of 20 years in prison. North Shore District Court Judge N.R. Dawson in New Zealand ruled that Dotcom isn't a flight risk in allowing bail yesterday. Keeping him in jail until his extradition hearing would be "onerous and effectively punitive," the judge said. Under terms of the bail provided by the justice ministry, Dotcom is under house arrest and subject to electronic monitoring at the $18 million, 5.3-acre estate in the hills of Coatesville, northwest of Auckland, that he has been renting. Dotcom is permitted to leave the property only to attend court and for pre-approved medical, dental or legal appointments.