Kim Dotcom wants to livestream legal fight against the US

If found guilty, they could face decades in jail.

Dotcom, who arrived at the Auckland High Court after the hearing began, had previously tweeted that Washington “has asked the New Zealand High Court not to allow live-streaming of my global interest copyright hearing”. The US wants him to stand trial on charges that his Megaupload site was a piracy hub that hugely enriched him while facilitating the illegal downloading of copyright material worth hundreds of millions.

Dotcom pledged to appeal the court decision after he, and three other men who co-founded Megaupload, were ruled to be eligible for extradition to the United States to face multiple charges.

Dotcom and colleagues Mathias Ortmann, Bram van der Kolk and Finn Batato are seeking to halt their extradition.

“We hope the court finds in favor of livestreaming so the global community from Silicon Valley to Wellington, New Zealand, can access the courtroom in a case that can impact the entire internet community”, one of Dotcom’s lawyers, Ira Rothken, told Reuters as the hearing began.

Mansfield also argued livestreaming would ensure balanced and fast reporting, as opposed to the constraints of traditional media. Unsurprisingly the public gallery in the High Court was full, with one man reportedly standing outside waving a banner claiming that Dotcom’s persecution is part of a Central Intelligence Agency conspiracy. Dotcom has become somewhat of a celebrity locally in New Zealand and he has a huge profile online as a serial entrepreneur, privacy activist, and video gamer.

Yes, it’s that time again – another Kim Dotcom hearing and plenty of social media carry-on to meet the American attempts to carry the big man off.

He said that the case against the former Megaupload operators “had gone off the rails” and their extradition should be halted since the District Court had shown “extraordinary disinterest” in their arguments at the earlier hearing.

“It’s like ships passing in the night, with the radar switched off”.

The four men have been locked in a protracted legal battle over the case since Dotcom was dramatically arrested in a Hollywood-style raid on his Coatesville mansion in 2012.

The hearing is expected to continue for six weeks or more.

The High Court ruling is unlikely to be the end of the story though, with both parties open to appealing and Dotcom saying he would take the case all the way to the Supreme Court if it didn’t go his way.