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Kim Dotcom Launches Successor to Megaupload

Kim Dotcom, the big boss of Megaupload, has launched the reboot of his file-sharing site. The service, called Mega, is a cloud-storage site that allows users to upload and store any kind of file.

The launch comes after Megaupload was shut down last year after New Zealand police arrested Dotcom and his employees over accusations of massive copyright infringement from the United States Department of Justice. Dotcom, born Kim Schmitz, has since been released on bail and introduced the new website in a lavish party held in his New Zealand mansion complete with actors dressed as armed police.

During the party, Dotcom addressed the issue, insisting that the new site complies with the law and warned that any attempt to take Mega down would be futile.

“Legally, there’s just nothing there that could be used to shut us down,” Dotcom said on Saturday. “This site is just as legitimate and has the right to exist as Dropbox, Boxnet, and other competitors.”

Dotcom added that every registered user of Mega would have 50 gigabytes of free cloud storage, which is far more than what is offered by rival services. The stored data will be encrypted, so only those who uploaded it would have access to it.

Hours after Mega was launched, Dotcom announced through Twitter that the site received over 250,000 user registrations, although limited server capacity makes Mega unreachable to a lot of people.

Despite gaining support from prominent tech personalities like Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and receiving an apology from New Zealand’s prime minister, the head of Megaupload is not out of the water just yet. A hearing on whether Dotcom can be extradited to the United States will be held in March.

Source: BBC

Photo credit: AFP
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Tags: Dotcom, Launches, Megaupload, Successor