The old Megaupload is dead. Even if Kim Dotcom wins every court case and has the site returned to him, it would be fairly useless. That’s why the Megaupload founder is planning on launching a new Megaupload later this year. We knew it was coming, but we didn’t know any details until today’s announcement.
Like with all major announcements, Dotcom took to Twitter to detail the second coming of Megaupload. It’s ambitious, innovative and could possibly change file sharing forever if the service does half of what Dotcom claims.
Developers get ready. The Mega API will provide incredible powers. Our API and your Mega tools will change the world.
We are building a massive global network. All non-US hosters will be able to connect servers & bandwidth. Get ready.
The new Mega will offer one-click-encryption of ALL your data transfers, on the fly, easy to use, free of charge, TOTAL PRIVACY!
They abused the wrong guy. I am going to turn this world upside down. Power to the people. Bye bye Echelon. Hello Freedom.
Looking beyond the claims of changing the world, the details revealed today show a Megaupload that would be immune to pretty much all law enforcement. For one, Dotcom won’t allow U.S.-based hosters to connect to the network. The U.S. authorities claim that Megaupload was under their jurisdiction, despite the company being based in Hong Kong, because they leased some servers in Virginia.
The second part of that tweet – “hosters will be able to connect servers and bandwidth” – is the most exciting part. The new Megaupload won’t just be hosted by servers contracted out by Dotcom and his company. Anybody can offer storage on the new Megaupload and will probably be compensated quite graciously for their contributions. It would also protect Megaupload from being shut down as the site can be offloaded onto other servers if one is taken down.
Finally, the one-click encryption would make sure that anybody monitoring the networks wouldn’t know who was uploading what. Granted, the authorities could use decryption software, but Dotcom may be using a new form of encryption that’s not easily breakable. Either way, users of the new Megaupload would be able to upload anything with peace of mind that their IP and files would be unknown to any prying eyes.
If Dotcom can pull this off, the new Megaupload just might change the world of file sharing. It will be interesting to see if the U.S. makes any statement regarding the relaunch of Megaupload as a new anonymous service that might even be more secure than torrents.
[h/t: TorrentFreak]