On January 19, 2012, the outspoken founder of Megaupload, Kim Dotcom, hit headlines when his file hosting and sharing platform was shut down and its servers confiscated by the US Department of Justice.
Launched in 2005, Megaupload allowed web user to store files online, offering unlimited storage for “premium” users or up to 200GB for free users. Files were unlimited in size for paid subscribers or otherwise limited to 1GB. Users could then share their files with others using specific URLs. At the height of its success, the Megaupload servers stored up to 25PB of data (around 25 million GB). The platform above all provided an alternative to peer-to-peer systems as a means of sharing files illegally (music, movies, games, books, etc.). This angered copyright holders and ultimately led to the platform being closed, since its servers were located in the USA.
One year to the day after Megaupload shut, Kim Dotcom returned with the much-hyped launch of Mega, an almost equivalent service promising increased security and servers based in New Zealand. While Mega removed all speed limitations for downloads, the site cut users’ free storage space to 50GB and introduced bandwidth limits for both free and paying users. In the end, the platform failed to meet with the same success as its predecessor.
A controversial and eccentric character, Kim Schmitz — aka Kim Dotcom — has launched several projects over the last few years, such as the anti-NSA instant messaging platform, MegaChat, and the Baboom music streaming service, which he ultimately abandoned before it launched.
In financial ruin and in conflict with the current directors of Mega, he now plans to launch a brand new version of Megaupload, the only one of his various “brands” that truly made an impact. Kim Dotcom promises a Megaupload 2.0 that’s “bigger and better than ever,” with plans to launch in January 2017. Watch this space.
This article was from AFP Relax News and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.
