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{Are prosecutors going to be outsmarted by technology...?]<br>
<h1 class="headline">Kim Dotcom plans 'Mega' comeback with new cloud
storage service</h1>
<div class="placeline"> <a
href="http://mg.co.za/author/naomi-tajitsu">19 Jan 2013 13:32 -
Naomi Tajitsu</a> </div>
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<div class="alt_article_blurb"> <span>Kim Dotcom, founder of the
outlawed Megaupload, said his new "cyberlocker" was not revenge
on US authorities who have charged him with online piracy.</span>
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<h3>More Coverage</h3>
<ul>
<li><a
href="http://mg.co.za/article/2012-12-06-new-zealand-allows-megauploads-dotcom-access-to-spy-records">New
Zealand allows Megaupload's Dotcom access to spy records</a></li>
<li><a
href="http://mg.co.za/article/2012-06-28-nz-judge-rules-kim-dotcom-raids-are-illegal">NZ
judge rules Kim Dotcom raids were illegal</a></li>
<li><a
href="http://mg.co.za/article/2012-01-23-megaupload-boss-detained-on-internet-piracy-charges">Bail
bid fails: Jail for Dotcom as pirate hunters nail
Megaupload</a></li>
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<p> Dotcom said his new offering, Mega.co.nz, which will launch
on Sunday even as he and three colleagues await extradition
from New Zealand to the United States, complied with the law
and warned that attempts to take it down would be futile.</p>
<p> "This is not some kind of finger to the US government or to
Hollywood," Dotcom told Reuters at his sprawling estate in the
bucolic hills of Coatesville, just outside Auckland, New
Zealand, a country known more for sheep, rugby and the Hobbit
than flamboyant tech tycoons.</p>
<p> "Legally, there's just nothing there that could be used to
shut us down. This site is just as legitimate and has the
right to exist as Dropbox, Boxnet and other competitors," he
said, referring to other popular cloud storage services.</p>
<p> His lawyer, Ira Rothken, added that launching the site was
compliant with the terms of Dotcom's bail conditions.</p>
<p> US prosecutors argue that Dotcom in a statement said he had
no intention of starting a new internet business until his
extradition was resolved.</p>
<p> Dotcom said Mega was a different beast to Megaupload, as the
new site enables users to control exactly which users can
access uploaded files, in contrast to its predecessor, which
allowed users to search files, some of which contained
copyrighted content allegedly without permission.</p>
<p> A sophisticated encryption system will allow users to encode
their files before they upload them on to the site's servers,
which Dotcom said were located in New Zealand and overseas.</p>
<p> Each file will then be issued a unique, sophisticated
decryption key which only the file holder will control,
allowing them to share the file as they choose.</p>
<p> As a result, the site's operators would have no access to
the files, which they say would strip them from any possible
liability for knowingly enabling users to distribute
copyright-infringing content, which Washington says is
illegal.</p>
<p> "Even if we wanted to, we can't go into your file and snoop
and see what you have in there," the burly Dotcom said.</p>
<p> Dotcom said Mega would comply with orders from copyright
holders to remove infringing material, which will afford it
the "safe harbour" legal provision, which minimises liability
on the condition that a party acted in good faith to comply.</p>
<p> But some legal experts say it may be difficult to claim the
protection if they do not know what users have stored.</p>
<p> The Motion Pictures Association of America said encrypting
files alone would not protect Dotcom from liability.</p>
<p> "We'll reserve final judgment until we have a chance to
analyse the new project," a spokesperson told Reuters. "But
given Kim Dotcom's history, count us as sceptical."</p>
<p> The German national, who also goes by Kim Schmitz, expects
huge interest in its first month of operation, which would be
a far cry from when Megaupload went live in 2005.</p>
<p> "I would be surprised if we had less than one million
users," Dotcom said.</p>
<p> <strong>A year on</strong><br>
Mega's launch starts the next chapter of the Dotcom narrative,
dotted with previous cyber crime-related arrests and whose
twists and turns have been scrutinised by all facets of the
entertainment industry, from film studios and record labels to
internet service companies and teenage gamers.</p>
<p> The copyright infringement case, billed as the largest to
date given that Megaupload in its heyday commanded around four
percent of global online traffic, could set a precedent for
internet liability laws and depending on its outcome, may
force entertainment companies to rethink their distribution
methods.</p>
<p> A year on, the extradition hearing has been delayed until
August, complicated by illegal arrest warrants and the New
Zealand government's admission that it had illegally spied on
Dotcom, who has residency status in the country.</p>
<p> Last January, New Zealand's elite special tactics forces
landed by helicopter at dawn in the grounds of Dotcom's
mansion, worth roughly NZ$30 million ($25.05 million) and
featuring a servants' wing, hedge maze and life-size statues
of giraffes and a rhinoceros, to arrest him and his colleagues
at the request of the FBI.</p>
<p> Police armed with semi-automatic weapons found Dotcom
cowering alone in a panic room in the attic, while outside, a
convoy of police cars and vans pulled up in the driveway.
Around 70 officers took part in the raid.</p>
<p> They left with computers, files and some of Dotcom's fleet
of Rolls-Royces, Mercedes and a vintage pink Cadillac tricked
with personalised licence plates screaming "HACKER", "EVIL",
and "MAFIA".</p>
<p> "Every time you hear a helicopter, you automatically think,
'Oh, another raid', so it's something that stays with you for
a long time," said Dotcom, who says he and his wife still
panic when they hear sudden, loud noises in the house.</p>
<p> Dotcom was coy about the details of the launch party as
builders put the finishing touches to a festival-sized concert
stage in the mansion's grounds, while two helicopters circled
overhead.</p>
<p> But if the impromptu, Willy Wonka-styled ice cream social he
threw in Auckland earlier in the week is any indication, the
party could be a more wholesome affair compared with the
well-documented soirees of Dotcom's past, where nightclubs,
hot tubs and scantily clad women were a common fixture.</p>
<p> "I had to grow up, you know, I was a big baby," he said.
"Big baby with too much money usually leads to baby craziness.</p>
<p> "I am going to be more of a person that wants to help to
make things better and help Internet innovation to take off
without all these restrictions by governments. That is going
to be my primary goal if this business is successful." –
Reuters.</p>
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