The only reason Kim Dotcom's extradition case would not be live-streamed is if the United States is afraid their case is not good, his lawyer says.
Kim Dotcom outside court after the district court decision in December. Photo: AFP
Mr Dotcom's appeal was set to be heard over the next six weeks in the High Court at Auckland, starting tomorrow.
The United States government was seeking to have Mr Dotcom, who owns the Megaupload file storage website, extradited to face charges of copyright violation and money laundering.
It was successful at the North Shore District Court, when Judge Dawson ruled Mr Dotcom should be sent to the United States to stand trial on criminal charges along with his three co-accused - Mathias Ortmann, Bram van der Kolk and Finn Batato.
Mr Dotcom's lawyer Ira Rothken said the appeal was about whether a cloud storage provider could be responsible for the acts of its users.
He said it had worldwide relevance.
"People in New Zealand, as they do in the United States, are entitled to walk into the courtroom and sit down," he said.
"This case has great importance across the globe. We don't understand why it can't be that anybody could watch this anywhere in the world.
"It only has to be because the United States is afraid that their case is not good, and it will be scrutinised, and they're trying to avoid it."
Mr Rothken said he was asking High Court Justice Asher to consider the idea.