Kim Dotcom: 'Nothing will stop Mega'

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Kim Dotcom: 'Nothing will stop Mega'


Published: 20 January, 2013, 15:11

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A defiant Kim Dotcom vowed to win his upcoming extradition hearing during the Sunday night launch party for his new project, Mega.
Dotcom, the founder of the now defunct file-storage site Megaupload, held a press conference Sunday evening at his Coatesville, New Zealand mansion in order to celebrate the unveiling of his latest endeavor as well as commemorate the one year anniversary of the high-profile arrest that projected him into the international spotlight.
On January 20, 2012, over 70 uniformed officers raided Dotcom’s home in cooperation with a federal investigation launched by the United States Department of Justice. According to the DoJ, Megaupload existed as a racketeering enterprise that made Dotcom millions by encouraging users to commit copyright infringement and piracy.
During the weekend presser, Dotcom said, “the allegations against us are wrong, we are innocent and we will prevail.”
“Sometimes good things come out of terrible events,” said Dotcom. “If it wasn’t for the raid, we wouldn’t have Mega.”
As with its precursor, Mega allows users to upload large files to be shared with others around the globe. The main difference this time around, though, is Mega relies on heavy-duty encryption in order to protect the privacy of its customers.
“What we are offering is a smarter, faster and more secure way of cloud storage. And we are fully assured buy our legal team that we are in compliance with the law,” he said during the event, which was attended by over 200 friends, colleagues and members of the press.
After last year’s arrest, the Federal Bureau of Investigation shut down Megaupload, froze Dotcom’s assets and put him behind bars. Should he lose his eventual extradition hearing, he and his colleagues could be sent to the States to stand trial and possibly be sentenced to decades in prison. Speaking during Sunday’s event, though, Dotcom said the raid and the subsequent events have prompted him to examine Internet law and privacy, an opportunity that has allowed him to examine what freedom exists on the Web today and what could be done to protect it.
“We learned a thing or two about privacy intrusion this year. It motivated us to make a state of the art privacy cloud storage service,” he said. “According to the United Nations’ Charter of Human Rights, privacy is a basic human right. But it has become increasingly difficult to communicate privately.”
During a speech the preceded a question and answer session with the press, Dotcom said that last year’s raid and the international investigation that targeted him caused him to think about more than just privacy, too. Speaking on the stage behind his Coatesville home, Dotcom said last year’s incident was also an example of how willing Washington is to break its own laws in order to make an example out of someone that doesn’t suit their model of how businesses should work on the Web
“The issues surrounding the unlawful seizure of Megaupload and the destruction of our business have opened up an urgent and ongoing political debate,” he said. “The Internet belongs to no man or industry or government. I’m convinced that the Internet is the key to the betterment of mankind, yet I see several large corporations and governments practicing legal warfare through the misuse of copyrights in an attempt to take control of the Internet and chill free speech. Let me assure you, that it is profit that motivates certain large corporations and the content industry to strain Internet growth. These attempts to rule the web are against innovations and they have to stop.”
“Our company and asserts were taken away from us without a hearing. The US government did this secretly without notice to us and without our ability to make any arguments in front of the judge. The privacy of our users was intruded on, communications were taken offline and free speech was attacked. Let me be clear: to those who use copyright law as a weapon to drown innovation and stifle competition, you will be left on the side of the road of history.No matter how many politicians you lobby, no matter how many SOPAs your money buys . . . you will not succeed with your attempt to take control of our Internet,” he said.
Addressing the media only a few hours after Mega went live, Dotcom said the site had already been visited by over a million people, half of whom registered for accounts.
“That’s not bad for a small Kiwi start up,” he quipped on stage. “So I can tell you already now that Mega is going to be huge and nothing will stop Mega.”
 

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Kim Dotcom: New file-sharing Mega launch

By Colin Mann
http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php...evision.info/&tt=0&captcha_provider=nucaptcha


Kim Dotcom, the founder of closed-down file-sharing site Megaupload, has launched a new website – Mega – which promises ‘military-grade’ encryption and which Dotcom insists will operate legally and is not setting out to affront the Hollywood studios or the US government.
Dotcom, who revealed plans for the new service at the beginning of November 2012, said: “This is not some kind of finger to the US government or to Hollywood. Legally, there’s just nothing there that could be used to shut us down.” He described the site as “just as legitimate as Dropbox, Boxnet and other competitors.” Mega offers 50 gigabytes of free storage, much more than similar sites such as Dropbox and Google Drive, and features a drag-and-drop upload tool.
He said an important difference between the two sites was that Mega allows users to control access to their files, unlike Megaupload, where anyone could search for and download copyrighted material, claiming that the encryption system would also keep users’ files protected from prying eyes and absolve the site from liability of knowingly allowing users to distribute copyrighted films.
The site features a ‘Notice of Alleged Infringement’
“Notice”
We respect the copyright of others and requires that users of our services comply with the laws of copyright. You are strictly prohibited from using our services to infringe copyright. You may not upload, download, store, share, display, stream, distribute, e-mail, link to, transmit or otherwise make available any files, data, or content that infringes any copyright or other proprietary rights of any person or entity. We will respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement that comply with applicable law and are properly provided to us. If you believe that your content has been copied or used in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide us with the following information: (i) a physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or a person authorized to act on their behalf; (ii) identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed; (iii) identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material including for example the uniform resource locator(s) (URL); (iv) your contact information, including your address, telephone number, and an email address; (v) a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and (vi) a statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and, under penalty of perjury (unless applicable law says otherwise), that you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.
We reserve the right to remove data alleged to be infringing without prior notice, at our sole discretion, and without liability to you. In appropriate circumstances, we will will also terminate your account if you are determined to be a repeat infringer. Our designated copyright agent for notice of alleged copyright infringement is:
Mega Limited Copyright Agent
Antonio Frank Lentino
Private Bag 1
Wellsford 0940
New Zealand
Email: [email protected]
The Motion Picture Association of America, said it was still reviewing how the new site would operate, “but we do know that Kim Dotcom has built his career and his fortune on stealing creative works,” it stated. “We’ll reserve final judgement until we have a chance to take a closer look, but given Kim Dotcom’s history of damaging the consumer experience by pushing stolen, illegitimate content into the marketplace, count us as sceptical.”
Dotcom is awaiting a decision in March as the whether he is to be extradited from New Zealand to the US to face charges relating to copyright theft.
He launched Mega on 20 January 2013 – a year to the day since his arrest – with a lavish gala and press conference at his New Zealand mansion featuring a tongue-in-cheek re-enactment of the dramatic raid on his home in 2012, when New Zealand police swooped down in helicopters onto the mansion grounds and arrested him in a safe room where he was hiding.
A number of wry observers have noticed a perhaps unintentional jibe at officialdom in the site’s domain name – mega.co.nz – which could be read as ‘megacons’!
 
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