This week, Kim Dotcom tweeted this photo, with the tagline: “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!” (credit: Kim Dotcom)

On Tuesday afternoon (Wednesday, Auckland time) a New Zealand judge ordered that founder Kim Dotcom and his co-defendants are eligible to be extradited to the United States to face criminal charges over alleged massive copyright infringement on his now-shuttered site, Megaupload.

The judgement, which almost certainly will be appealed, sets the stage for the winding down of Dotcom’s tenacious years-long legal fight against the American judicial system.

As Ira Rothken, Dotcom’s California-based lawyer, tweeted: