Megaupload Founder Launches New Site, 'Mega,' as Best File Sharing Site

By Myles Collier , Christian Post Contributor

January 21, 2013|8:47 am

Embattled file sharing website mogul Kim Dotcom launched a new website that he says will prevent him from being the subject of litigation in the future.

Dotcom's new site "Mega" was created in the same manner as his other website, Megaupload, and is billed as the best file sharing site on the web. The main difference with this most recent endeavor will be greater privacy for users, as the site will not track what files are downloaded or shared.

The difference is the changes in both the encryption and decryption aspect for data transfers that were put in place in the hopes of detering future lawsuits.

The new site gives users the decryption keys for uploaded files, which will mean that the website will not be able to see what types of files are being shared, thus preventing Dotcom and "Mega" from being held liable over the content that is shared.

Dotcom is still facing extradition charges filed by both the United States and the Netherlands, with both countries governments accusing the site of online piracy and copyright infringement.

Dotcom and his associates were charged by a federal court in Virginia for making millions of dollars from selling copyrighted materials such as television shows, movies and music to millions of users worldwide.

A lawyer had previously stated that the site served only as a place for users to store data online. The company has claimed that it had removed the content when requested.

When the Megaupload site was shut down, it had 66.6 million registered users, with only 10 percent of users having ever uploaded only a single file. This led investigators to believe that most people used the site to download the illegal material, according to the Justice Department.

The indictment also accused the group of using copyrighted material from sites like Google's YouTube video service which they used on Megaupload websites.

The U.S. Justice Department seized the domain names for the websites, causing them to shut down Jan. 19 of this year. The allegedly illegal operation was based in Hong Kong, and with its operations, it was able to amass assets reaching north of $330 million, according to the Justice Department.