July 10, 2012 - 1:12 AM
SYDNEY - A New Zealand judge has delayed the extradition hearing of Kim Dotcom, the founder of file-sharing website Megaupload, until next year.
U.S. prosecutors seeking to extradite Dotcom accuse him of racketeering by facilitating millions of illegal downloads of copyrighted material on his website.
The extradition hearing was supposed to take place in August but lawyers from both sides are still arguing over evidence legality issues.
North Shore District Court Judge David Harvey on Tuesday set a tentative hearing date for March 25. The hearing is expected to last three weeks.
On his Twitter account, Dotcom criticized the postponement and accused U.S. prosecutors of "dirty delay tactics."
Dotcom remains under house arrest at his Auckland home as he awaits the hearing.
News from © The Associated Press, 2012