Kim Dotcom and his co-accused will face the music as the long-awaited extradition trial kicks off in Auckland.

Love him or hate him, Kim Dotcom's not going anywhere yet.

The larger-than-life internet entrepreneur has kept lawyers and journalists busy for more than three years in the lead up to his extradition hearing; which is finally set to kick off on Monday morning.

You'll be forgiven if your interest in the landmark copyright case has waned through the ongoing and convoluted legal battles, a bizarre jaunt into the music industry and a brief foray into politics.

REUTERS Dotcom's brief foray into politics came to an abrupt end when the Internet Party failed to secure a seat in Parliament.

But despite efforts from Dotcom and his legal team to delay the trial while they work to get in technical expert witnesses and pull together further funds, things are expected to finally come to a head.

The United States' attempts to extradite the German-born internet mogul began in January 2012 and Dotcom was blasted into the public eye following the police raid on his Coatesville mansion north of Auckland on January 20, 2012.

US authorities claim Dotcom and his three co-accused - Mathias Ortmann, Fin Batato and Bram van der Kolk - used the Megaupload website and its affiliated sites to knowingly make money from pirated movies and games.

SAM BOYER/FAIRFAX NZ Wayne Tempero, former bodyguard of Kim Dotcom said he did not regret his association with the internet entrepreneur.

He is facing copyright infringement and money laundering charges.

The raid was requested by the FBI but carried out by New Zealand Police, who stormed Dotcom's sizeable property, arrested Dotcom and seized his assets.

About NZ$11.8 million of assets, including luxury cars, government bonds, cash and property were taken from Dotcom.

@KIMDOTCOM/TWITTER Dotcom announced he and his wife Mona had separated in May last year.

After the raids, some of the data from more than 135 seized computers and other devices were cloned and given to US authorities. Those clones have since been returned.

Since then Dotcom has been in and out of court in an effort to regain electronic data and assets seized during the raid. He's also fought the legality of the raid, a case he lost, then won, then lost again.

Numerous battles – each somehow linked to the main extradition case – have been dragged through the courts, with the losing side appealing and appealing again, costing time and taxpayer money.

PETER MEECHAM/FAIRFAX NZ Dotcom's US lawyer Ira Rothken says the Megaupload founder is "cautiously optimistic" ahead of the trial.

Six Hollywood studios joined the fray last year, claiming he "facilitated, encouraged and profited" from illegal file-sharing on his Megaupload site.

Throughout the saga Dotcom had to take the stand when former ACT MP John Banks was accused of filing a false electoral return in relation to a donation towards Banks' mayoral campaign from Dotcom. Banks conviction was overturned in the end.

Dotcom also announced in May last year that he and his wife Mona Dotcom were separating.

The couple have five children together and Mona still lives on the Coatesville property.

Dotcom's former bodyguard Wayne Tempero, who was present during the raid, said the ongoing fight had taken its toll on those close to the Megaupload founder.

The time, money and effort put into fighting the charges were not worth it, he said.

Tempero said he had been affected emotionally and mentally by Dotcom's battle. He had a Hong Kong bank account seized and faced weapons charges. His career had also taken a hit.

However, Tempero did not regret working for Dotcom.

"He was a client and a very good one and before the raid it was like every other client that I had.

"He can be a fun guy and we had a lot of fun before the raid, I have no regrets at all."

Tempero said this trial would not be the last New Zealand saw of Kim Dotcom. It was almost certain it would drag on through appeal courts and the Supreme Court.

"At the end of the day, like I said, to me the extradition is a farce because it's gonna be five years down the track.

"And if it was me in the same situation I'd be wanting that and so would you.

"We don't live in a society where someone says you're guilty and you're away straight away facing the death sentence.

"They have huge jail terms hanging over their heads so they have every right to fight."

But legal costs were mounting on both sides. As of last Thursday, Crown lawyers had spent almost 30,000 legal hours fighting the case.

Crown Law staff had put in 26,319 hours and external barristers 3026 hours.

Not including the salaries paid to Crown Law internal legal staff, the Government had spent $945,917 on the Dotcom case, including $774,532.87 in external lawyers' fees.

Meanwhile, Dotcom had been struggling to pay his lawyers.

In May, he was granted access to a portion of his seized millions to pay his mounting legal costs and $170,000-a-month household expenses.

Earlier this year, Dotcom said he was "broke, destitute and penniless".

His legal fees had amounted to $10m at the end of last year. In February this year he still owed his former Simpson Grierson lawyers $2m.

Simpson Grierson split from Dotcom in November last year but his US attorney Ira Rothken stepped up, along with Auckland lawyer Ron Mansfield.

The Simpson Grierson team would not comment on why they had stopped representing Dotcom or the upcoming extradition trial.

In the midst of the legal hoopla Dotcom decided to try his hand at politics. While he could not run for a spot as an MP, he was able to set up and bankroll the Internet Party.

The party, which joined with Mana at the eleventh hour, had a short life, gaining just 1.2 per cent of the party vote during last year's election.

A person who worked closely with Dotcom during the Internet Party's 10-month lifespan, and who spoke on the basis he not be named, said the party was founded on strong values but lost its way.

"I think it had absolute merit and that was in fact the only reason I got involved, I really couldn't care less about Kim Dotcom's various other travails of the court cases etcetera.

"I believed that the party had a good role that it could have played.

"Unfortunately that got completely muddied to the point of being ridiculous with the tie up with Mana and appointing Laila Harre as leader."

Following the election Dotcom apologised to Mana leader Hone Harawira for the loss but the former employee said Dotcom was the only reason the Internet Party got as far as it did.

"The reality is it got the profile it got because of Kim Dotcom.

"The fact is, irrespective of what people might think about Kim, he's an incredibly smart guy and passionate and dedicated and innovative and that was supposedly what the Internet Party was supposed to be all about.

"Unfortunately, it got dragged so far away off away from advocating on what was fundamentally important tech issues facing this country, from where the Internet Party could have been a really good leading voice, into some sort of bizarre, leftist, social justice party and that was the absolute failing of it, not Kim Dotcom."

The man said Dotcom was good to work with and "pretty straight up" but it became clear his reason for launching into the political fray was to create a "hate campaign" aimed at John Key.

While the Internet Party met a quick and brutal death, Dotcom had an unwavering faith in himself and his ability to "land on the right side of things", he said.

"I sat with him one day, just him and me at Coatesville, and I said 'Kim how do you do this? How do you keep going?' Frankly I was just staggered with all these things piling up on him.

"And he would have his occasional funks, if you like, but he was generally upbeat, positive.

"But I said to him 'It seems to me if I was in your position I would be curled up in the foetal position in the corner of the room, how do you do it? What makes you keep going?'

"And he just turned to me and said 'Because I'm right. I keep going because I'm right'."

The man said the ongoing legal battles and the extradition trial were worth the expense and heartache.

"I think it's an important debate that needs to be followed through properly without sensationalism.

"This is a really important case and it's an important case for our day and age…

"Tech has changed the way we live our lives, the way that we do everything and in many cases our laws, our institutions simply haven't kept up with that.

The Dotcom case will set a precedent in New Zealand, he said.

Dotcom's US attorney Ira Rothken is in New Zealand for the trial.

He will appear alongside Dotcom's New Zealand legal team this week and hopes they can win "with one hand tied behind our back".

Rothken said facts and the law were on Dotcom's side but he believed the "procedural gamesmanship" of the United States had put them at a disadvantage.

In another minor victory for Dotcom and his co-accused, a leading copyright expert has come out in support of Dotcom's case this month.

In a District Court submission Harvard Law School professor Lawrence Lessig said he did not believe there were grounds for his extradition.

Rothken said he could not guess what impact, if any, the submission would have on the case.

"Having the leading scholar on internet law, perhaps in the world, weighing in and saying what Kim Dotcom and the others did was no crime ought to be helpful globally and we're hopeful the United States takes a good hard look at this case and re-evaluates their position."

Ahead of the trial on Friday, Rothken said Dotcom was "cautiously optimistic".

"He wants justice to be done and we're concerned that the procedural gamesmanship of the United States may interfere with justice and so there's a healthy concern on the process but there's a good confidence that the law and the facts are on Kim Dotcom's side."

Luckily for Dotcom this isn't his last chance to stay to fight his extradition.

If history was anything to go by, the loser would likely appeal until their options were exhausted, Rothken said.

TIMELINE:

2010

Kim Dotcom applies for New Zealand residency. Rents mansion of Chrisco founder Richard Bradley in Coatesville, northwest of Auckland.

November: Granted residency.

2011

FBI asks New Zealand to help investigation of Dotcom's file-sharing business Megaupload.

December: Government Communications Security Bureau spies on Dotcom at request of police.

2012

January: Armed raid on Dotcom's home. Dotcom, Finn Batato, Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk arrested. FBI accuses him of half-billion-dollar copyright theft. He denies it.

February: Organised and Financial Crime Agency New Zealand and GCSB debrief; police raise concerns surveillance may have been illegal.

Dotcom is granted bail.

GCSB's lawyer concludes surveillance was lawful.

June: High Court rules the raid on the Dotcom mansion was illegal.

August: Deputy Prime Minister Bill English signs certificate suppressing GCSB involvement in Dotcom raid.

September: GCSB says it became aware the spying was illegal.

John Key launches inquiry. Crown files memorandum confirming GCSB involvement. Key goes public then apologises to Dotcom after surveillance deemed illegal.

Legal hearings in New Zealand and United States over bail conditions, the legality of the raid and attempts to extradite Dotcom continue.

2013

January: Dotcom launches his new "Mega" file-storage business with a celebrity-studded party.

March: Court of Appeal rules Dotcom can sue the GCSB and New Zealand police, upholding a High Court decision.

July: Dotcom appears at select committee hearings on proposed law to let GCSB spy on New Zealanders. Dotcom and Key trade insults.

2014

January: Dotcom unveils a logo revealing his political venture, the Internet Party.

February: Court of Appeal deems the raids on the Dotcom mansion to be legal.

April: Hollywood Studios launch case against Dotcom and co-accused.

May: Dotcom announces split from wife Mona Dotcom.

September: Internet Party fails to win any seats at the election and takes the Mana Party down with it.

December: After a three-day bail hearing where the US wanted him remanded in custody, Dotcom is allowed to return home.

Supreme Court says mansion raid was legal.

2015:

May: Dotcom gets back millions in seized assets to pay mounting legal; fees and household expenses.

John Banks acquitted of filing a false electoral return in relation to a donation from Dotcom for Banks' mayoral campaign.

Dotcom continues to fight for seized assets and wins back cloned computers.

September: Latest appeal to put off the extradition trial fails. Trial begins in Auckland on September 21.