Release of MEGA

Dotcom goes Mega with new site

Tycoon Kim Dotcom's new file-sharing service Mega launched today with a promise to free the internet from corporate and government interference.

NZ Herald,

20 January, 2013

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The website went live at 6.48am - precisely one year after the armed assault by anti-terror police on Dotcom's Coatesville mansion on Auckland's North Shore.

The launch seemed to be successful, with Dotcom tweeting at 7.40am: "100,000 registered users in less than 1 hour. Fastest growing startup in Internet history? #Mega."

An hour later, he said: "Site is still overloaded. Massive demand. Incredible. I am so happy. Thank you for using #Mega."

He followed that with: "250,000 user registrations. Server capacity on maximum load. Should get better when initial frenzy is over. Wow!!!"

When users complained of delays in registering and uploading material, he replied: "Site is extremely busy. Currently thousands of user registrations PER MINUTE."

One user trying to sign up said there was "so much traffic I can't get the page to load," while others complained of pages freezing and uploads not working.

Last year's raid led to the destruction of Dotcom's Megaupload business and the loss of his $200 million fortune.

Dotcom said "When you try to stop progress, when you try top stop society for advancing, you will fail."

The Mega service is designed as a one-click encrypted file storage site with new users given 50 gigabytes of space free on sign up.

Dotcom said the ease of encryption meant internet users privacy was easily protected - even from those running the website.

Teaser screen shots of the service released before launch paid homage to year-long court battle and the legal fight to come before Dotcom's extradition hearing in August.

The shots show Mega screens holding encrypted files named "GCSB" - the intelligence agency which illegally spied on Dotcom - and "JK Evidence".

Dotcom has claimed he has proof showing Prime Minister John Key was aware of the raid before it happened, contrary to denials.

The day-long launch culminates in a party at the mansion this evening. A large stage was set up on Friday, creating speculation of a headline act ti kick off the much-hyped event.

The lead up also saw Megaupload's commercial backers emerge, along with New Zealander Tony Lentino named as chief executive.

Auckland high court files identified Lentino as the person who covered three months rent of $250,000 on the Dotcom Mansion immediately after the raid.

Dotcom has repeatedly blamed Hollywood movie studios and the music industry for pressuring the White House into ordering the raid.

On Friday, the NZ-based representatives at the Motion Pictures Distributors Association and Recording Industry Association of NZ refused to comment.

Mediaworks, which relies on commercial radio revenue, also refused to say why it had dumped a Mega ad campaign after initially agreeing to run it. Dotcom has blamed music industry pressure.

Internet NZ policy expert Susan Chalmers said there had always been a "close relationship" between the powerful Hollywood lobby and Washington DC political establishment.

She said the "rhetoric" of the Motion Picture Association of America - the studios lobby group - was "one of way, conflict and violence".

"The US is really trying to establish a uniform set of more stringent laws across the world. The White House is using this jingoistic way of describing intellectual property theft. It means the lobbyists in Hollywood are succeeding and succeeding very well."

The moves saw increasing efforts to strengthen laws in a way which did not take into account the evolving nature of the internet.

She said the design of the service appeared to ring-fence Dotcom from knowledge of the content of the files on the Mega service - a key component for any agency attempting to prove secondary copyright violation.

She said the Megaupload case and Dotcom had helped produce new case studies which defined enforcement and jurisdiction.

"He pushes things to the limit."

To access MEGA GO HERE

Kim Dotcom's New MEGA Encrypted Cloud Storage: See No Evil, Store No Evil

Forbes,

19 January, 2013

Controversial file storage tycoon, Kim Dotcom, is launching his new encrypted cloud storage site MEGA in the U.S. tomorrow (note: link not currently active.) The service will offer 50GB of storage for free and three Pro tiers of 500GB to 4TB for $13-$40 a month.

The new service comes a year to the day from when authorities raided Dotcom’s New Zealand mansion and shut down his previous site, Megaupload. That site was notorious as a haven for pirated materials, but Dotcom maintained his innocence and charges against him were dropped.

Dotcom is clever and MEGA is designed both to compete with cloud storage giants like Dropbox, Google Drive, and RapidShare—and also to insulate itself from future charges. The difference that makes a difference is that all files are encrypted using a 2048-bit RSA key. (See a detailed writeup onArs Technica for more details.) What this means effectively is that Dotcom cannot be accused of knowingly storing copyrighted materials because he cannot technically know the content of the files stored on MEGA—only the user who uploaded the files and/or possesses the key can.

As you can see in the screen shot below (from the Ars Technica article), you can provide links to your files (either containing the key so someone can access them directly or by providing them with the key separately) but you are prompted with a caution about not transmitting the keys through insecure channels and a far-reaching copyright warning. Although users typically do not read these warnings and will undoubtably use the service to store unauthorized copyright material, they cannot be said to have not been warned. Dotcom is betting that the combination of encrypted content and explicit warnings should be enough to keep his new service out of trouble.

In an exclusive interview this morning in the Guardian (UK), Dotcom tells reporter Toby Manhire, ”We want to show the world that we are innovators. We want to show the world that cloud storage has a right to exist. And, of course, when you launch something like this, you can expect some controversy. The content industry is going to react really emotionally about this. The US government will probably try and destroy the new business … you’ve got to stand up against that, and fight that, and I’m doing that … I will not allow them to chill me.”

He maintains in the interview that the case against Megaupload was politically motivated in response to the failure of the SOPA legislation in Washington. The process has made him change his perceptions of America. In his early days as a hacker, he says that he “thought of [himself] as more American than Americans… I always had this attitude of can-do, and if you’re successful you can show it, which is a very un-German thing.” But after his prosecution he claims, “ a much better understanding now of how the US government operates and how much spying is actually going on, how much privacy intrusion is the reality today … we are very close to George Orwell’s vision becoming a reality.”

As for the entertainment industries approach to controlling piracy, Dotcom thinks they’re missing the boat. ”There’s so much money to be made, and those fools don’t get it,” he says. “They just don’t get it.” He sees himself as both pro-freedom and pro-business. It’s just that the business he sees is different than, and disruptive of, the Hollywood model. One of the perplexing things about Dotcom is that it’s as easy to paint him as a rogue as a revolutionary.

Dotcom does not accept the hacker’s black hat, however. ”I’m not evil, you know? I’m a good guy,” he says. “Everyone who knows me likes me … they should really come to the table, come to their senses and work this out. Because I’m not going to cave in. I’m going to fight this thing. And there’s no way in hell that they have any chance to win this. I don’t see it. I don’t see it because I know I’m innocent, and the lawyers know I’m innocent, and we have right on our side.”

The questions for MEGA are multiple. Will Dotcom be able to dodge takedown attempts? Will users find the encryption scheme too cumbersome? Will MEGA disrupt not only the entertainment industry but also the cloud storage market? Whatever happens, like the name and Dotcom’s own person suggest, it’s going to be big.