But the judge disagreed, writing in a ruling that Dotcom would face losing all of his considerable assets if he decided to become a fugitive.

The U.S. plans to seek to extradite Dotcom, who was indicted along with six other people and two companies by a U.S. grand jury in January on charges of copyright infringement, racketeering, money laundering and wire fraud. The extradition proceedings aren't expected to begin before July.

The U.S. Department of Justice alleges Megaupload collected US$175 million in criminal proceeds and caused more than $500 million in damages to copyright holders. Also charged in the case are Finn Batato, Julius Bencko, Sven Echternach, Mathias Ortmann, Andrus Nomm and Bram Van Der Kolk.