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==History==
==History==
Kim Dotcom's first file-hosting site [[Megaupload.com|Megaupload]] was seized and shut down on 19 January 2012 by the United States Department of Justice, which began criminal cases against its owners. Mega launched on 19 January 2013 a year after Dotcom's original site was shut down.{{cite needed|date=June 2013}} Kim Dotcom reported on Twitter getting over 100,000 registered within the first hour, speculating that this may make Mega the fastest-growing startup in history.<ref name="KDC initial users">{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/292702999078387712|title=Kim Dotcom's tweet: 100,000 registered users in less than 1 hour. Fastest growing startup in Internet history? #Mega|first=Kim|last=Dotcom|date=19 January 2013|accessdate=19 January 2013}}</ref> Kim Dotcom also reported on [[Twitter]], that the "site" was extremely busy, and received thousands of user registrations per minute at the time of the tweet.<ref name="KDC site busy">{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/292698711920889856|title=Site is extremely busy. Currently thousands of user registrations PER MINUTE|publisher=Twitter|first=Kim|last=Dotcom|date=19 January 2013|accessdate=19 January 2013}}.</ref> Kim later reported Mega having more than 1 million registered users, and 60 uploads complete every second.<ref name="KDC user+uploads">{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/293717126957633536|title=60 uploads complete every second!|publisher=Twitter|first=Kim|last=Dotcom|date=22 January 2013|accessdate=22 January 2013}}</ref> Three days later that number was updated to 500 uploads completed every second.<ref name="KDC ups per sec">{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/294839071728091137|title=When 500 uploads complete "every second" you know you created something powerful.|publisher=Twitter|first=Kim|last=Dotcom|date=25 January 2013|accessdate=14 June 2013}}</ref> According to Kim, Mega currently has over 50 million files hosted on their servers, and out of those files, just 0.001 percent have been taken down by the original content owners for piracy. According to Kim, that's 50 DMCA takedowns per day.<ref name="nextweb Mega takedowns">{{cite web|url=http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/01/31/mega-now-hosting-nearly-50-million-files-but-just-0-001-infringe-copyright-kim-dotcom-claims/?utm_medium=Spreadus&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=social%20media&awesm=tnw.to_a0UlR|title=Mega now hosting nearly 50 million files but just 0.001% infringe copyright|date=19 January 2013|accessdate=31 January 2013}}</ref> On 7 February 2013, it was announced that the former Chief Executive of [[InternetNZ]], Vikram Kumar, would step in as the new CEO of MEGA. Lentino would instead maintain a seat as a director with Mega, and continue to provide his entrepreneurial spirit and skills to the enterprise, he said.<ref name="mega blog 7">{{cite web|url=https://mega.co.nz/#blog_7|title=Mega Limited appoints new CEO|author=Admin|date=7 February 2013|accessdate=7 February 2013}}</ref>
Kim Dotcom's first file-hosting site [[Megaupload.com|Megaupload]] was seized and shut down on 19 January 2012 by the United States Department of Justice, which began criminal cases against its owners. Mega launched on 19 January 2013 - a year after Dotcom's original site was shut down. Kim Dotcom reported on Twitter getting over 100,000 registered within the first hour, speculating that this may make Mega the fastest-growing startup in history.<ref name="KDC initial users">{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/292702999078387712|title=Kim Dotcom's tweet: 100,000 registered users in less than 1 hour. Fastest growing startup in Internet history? #Mega|first=Kim|last=Dotcom|date=19 January 2013|accessdate=19 January 2013}}</ref> Kim Dotcom also reported on [[Twitter]], that the "site" was extremely busy, and received thousands of user registrations per minute at the time of the tweet.<ref name="KDC site busy">{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/292698711920889856|title=Site is extremely busy. Currently thousands of user registrations PER MINUTE|publisher=Twitter|first=Kim|last=Dotcom|date=19 January 2013|accessdate=19 January 2013}}.</ref> Kim later reported Mega having more than 1 million registered users, and 60 uploads complete every second.<ref name="KDC user+uploads">{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/293717126957633536|title=60 uploads complete every second!|publisher=Twitter|first=Kim|last=Dotcom|date=22 January 2013|accessdate=22 January 2013}}</ref> Three days later that number was updated to 500 uploads completed every second.<ref name="KDC ups per sec">{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/294839071728091137|title=When 500 uploads complete "every second" you know you created something powerful.|publisher=Twitter|first=Kim|last=Dotcom|date=25 January 2013|accessdate=14 June 2013}}</ref> According to Kim, Mega currently has over 50 million files hosted on their servers, and out of those files, just 0.001 percent have been taken down by the original content owners for piracy. According to Kim, that's 50 DMCA takedowns per day.<ref name="nextweb Mega takedowns">{{cite web|url=http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/01/31/mega-now-hosting-nearly-50-million-files-but-just-0-001-infringe-copyright-kim-dotcom-claims/?utm_medium=Spreadus&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=social%20media&awesm=tnw.to_a0UlR|title=Mega now hosting nearly 50 million files but just 0.001% infringe copyright|date=19 January 2013|accessdate=31 January 2013}}</ref> On 7 February 2013, it was announced that the former Chief Executive of [[InternetNZ]], Vikram Kumar, would step in as the new CEO of MEGA. Lentino would instead maintain a seat as a director with Mega, and continue to provide his entrepreneurial spirit and skills to the enterprise, he said.<ref name="mega blog 7">{{cite web|url=https://mega.co.nz/#blog_7|title=Mega Limited appoints new CEO|author=Admin|date=7 February 2013|accessdate=7 February 2013}}</ref>


Early users of the site experienced various issues, including slow-to-nonexistent upload speeds and problems logging in.<ref name="3news log-in issues">{{cite news|url=http://www.3news.co.nz/Reviewers-rip-into-Mega/tabid/412/articleID/283980/Default.aspx|title=Dotcom apologises to Mega users|publisher=3 News NZ|first=Dan|last=Satherley|date=22 January 2013|accessdate=22 January 2013}}</ref> The service improved slightly over the next three days, but remained insufficient for large volumes of uploads. Others said there appeared to be no way to close an account in case it got compromised.<ref name="3news no ac closing">{{cite news|url=http://www.3news.co.nz/Concerns-raised-over-Mega-site-security/tabid/412/articleID/284119/Default.aspx|title=Concerns raised over Mega site security|publisher=3 News NZ|first=Jeb|last=Boone|date=23 January 2013|accessdate=23 January 2013}}</ref>
Early users of the site experienced various issues, including slow-to-nonexistent upload speeds and problems logging in.<ref name="3news log-in issues">{{cite news|url=http://www.3news.co.nz/Reviewers-rip-into-Mega/tabid/412/articleID/283980/Default.aspx|title=Dotcom apologises to Mega users|publisher=3 News NZ|first=Dan|last=Satherley|date=22 January 2013|accessdate=22 January 2013}}</ref> The service improved slightly over the next three days, but remained insufficient for large volumes of uploads. Others said there appeared to be no way to close an account in case it got compromised.<ref name="3news no ac closing">{{cite news|url=http://www.3news.co.nz/Concerns-raised-over-Mega-site-security/tabid/412/articleID/284119/Default.aspx|title=Concerns raised over Mega site security|publisher=3 News NZ|first=Jeb|last=Boone|date=23 January 2013|accessdate=23 January 2013}}</ref>

Revision as of 01:48, 9 August 2013

This article is about the file hosting service. For other uses, see Mega.

Mega, Limited
File:Mega.co.nz website.PNG
The privacy company
Type of site
Limited
Available inMultilingual (44 languages)
Predecessor(s)Megaupload
Headquarters
Auckland
,
New Zealand
OwnerInstra Corporation
MD Corporate Trustee, Limited
Founder(s)Kim Dotcom
Key peopleKim Dotcom
Mathias Ortmann
Bram van der Kolk
Finn Batato
Tony Lentino
Vikram Kumar
ServicesOnline file hosting
URLwww.mega.co.nz
RegistrationNot required but restrictions do apply.
UsersOver 3 million[1]
Launched19 January 2013 (2013-01-19)

Mega, Limited (branded as MEGA) is a file hosting service and successor to Megaupload. The website was launched on 19 January 2013, to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the seizure of Megaupload.[3] After Gabon denied the new company the domain name me.ga,[4] Kim Dotcom announced it would instead be registered in his adopted home of New Zealand under the domain name mega.co.nz.[5]

History

Kim Dotcom's first file-hosting site Megaupload was seized and shut down on 19 January 2012 by the United States Department of Justice, which began criminal cases against its owners. Mega launched on 19 January 2013 - a year after Dotcom's original site was shut down. Kim Dotcom reported on Twitter getting over 100,000 registered within the first hour, speculating that this may make Mega the fastest-growing startup in history.[6] Kim Dotcom also reported on Twitter, that the "site" was extremely busy, and received thousands of user registrations per minute at the time of the tweet.[7] Kim later reported Mega having more than 1 million registered users, and 60 uploads complete every second.[8] Three days later that number was updated to 500 uploads completed every second.[9] According to Kim, Mega currently has over 50 million files hosted on their servers, and out of those files, just 0.001 percent have been taken down by the original content owners for piracy. According to Kim, that's 50 DMCA takedowns per day.[10] On 7 February 2013, it was announced that the former Chief Executive of InternetNZ, Vikram Kumar, would step in as the new CEO of MEGA. Lentino would instead maintain a seat as a director with Mega, and continue to provide his entrepreneurial spirit and skills to the enterprise, he said.[1]

Early users of the site experienced various issues, including slow-to-nonexistent upload speeds and problems logging in.[11] The service improved slightly over the next three days, but remained insufficient for large volumes of uploads. Others said there appeared to be no way to close an account in case it got compromised.[12]

Technology commentators blamed the poor performance on the site's popularity, noting it was ranked in the top 150 websites in the world in the first few days of its existence, subsequently dropping a few thousand places.[13]

On July 4th 2013, the official MEGA Android application was released on the Google Play marketplace. 4 days later, on July 8th the MEGA Software development kit and Affiliate program was released.

Data encryption

File:Mega.co.nz file uploader.PNG
Mega.co.nz HTML5 file folder.

Dotcom has said that data on the Mega service will be encrypted client-side using an advanced AES algorithm. Since Mega does not know the encryption keys to uploaded files, they cannot decrypt and view the content. Therefore, they cannot be responsible for the contents of uploaded files.[14] Dotcom stated that encrypting files allows them to work with a larger number of data hosting companies around the world, decreasing the likelihood of a Megaupload-style seizure of servers by one government. He mentioned in an interview with Ars Technica that "Each file will be kept with at least two different hosters, [in] at least two different locations," and "That’s a great added benefit for us because you can work with the smallest, most unreliable [hosting] companies. It doesn’t matter because they can’t do anything with that data."[15]

In the first few weeks after the Mega launch, various security problems were found that researchers said an attacker could use to gain access to a logged-in user's files.[16][17][18] In response, Mega started a vulnerability reward program which offers a reward of up to €10,000 for reporting security problems to Mega.[19]

The Mega team indicated that some companies, such as film studios, will have direct access to remove files if they discover the encryption keys online and determine that the content infringes their copyright. Dotcom added that if such companies want to use that tool they would have to agree, prior to receiving access, not to sue Mega or hold the site accountable for the actions of its users.[20]

Data allowances

  • Free account users are provided with one option:
    • 50 GB of storage space (no artificial limits are imposed, but in case of traffic congestion the speed is adjusted to a lower value until the servers are no longer overwhelmed)[21]
  • Paid account users are provided with three tiers of options:[22]
    • 500 GB storage (1 TB bandwidth per month)
    • 2 TB storage (4 TB bandwidth per month)
    • 4 TB storage (8 TB bandwidth per month)

API

Mega has released some documentation of its API so developers can write their own applications.[23]

According to Mega, in the near future they will provide reference client libraries/SDKs for various programming languages. For now, their JavaScript site code is the only official sample code available, although some programmers have developed samples of the Mega API in Python, PHP,[24] and C#,[25] and some applications have started to appear, including features like online video[26] and file synchronization.[27]

Limitations

According to Mega, the site "works with all major current browsers", but there can be some inconveniences to using browsers other than Google Chrome or Firefox. For example, with Internet Explorer 10, Mega has a "memory leak in the Blob saving functionality, [you] have to close and reopen the Mega tab every couple of hundred megabytes of inbound file transfer".[28]

As of version 12.15, the Opera web browser does not work at all. The error "Connection closed by remote server" is reported. Curiously, version 12.14 doesn't exhibit the same problem.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Admin (7 February 2013). "Mega Limited appoints new CEO". Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  2. ^ "Mega.co.nz Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  3. ^ "Elaborate claims about new Dotcom site". 3 News NZ. 1 November 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  4. ^ "Gabon suspends Kim Dotcom's me.ga domain". 3 News NZ. 7 November 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  5. ^ "Dotcom goes for NZ web address". 3 News NZ. 13 November 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  6. ^ Dotcom, Kim (19 January 2013). "Kim Dotcom's tweet: 100,000 registered users in less than 1 hour. Fastest growing startup in Internet history? #Mega". Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  7. ^ Dotcom, Kim (19 January 2013). "Site is extremely busy. Currently thousands of user registrations PER MINUTE". Twitter. Retrieved 19 January 2013..
  8. ^ Dotcom, Kim (22 January 2013). "60 uploads complete every second!". Twitter. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  9. ^ Dotcom, Kim (25 January 2013). "When 500 uploads complete "every second" you know you created something powerful". Twitter. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  10. ^ "Mega now hosting nearly 50 million files but just 0.001% infringe copyright". 19 January 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  11. ^ Satherley, Dan (22 January 2013). "Dotcom apologises to Mega users". 3 News NZ. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  12. ^ Boone, Jeb (23 January 2013). "Concerns raised over Mega site security". 3 News NZ. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  13. ^ 3 News online staff (28 January 2013). "Mega: service improves as visitors drop off". 3 News NZ. Retrieved 28 January 2013.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ Graeber, Charles (28 March 2013). "Megaupload Is Dead. Long Live Mega! | Threat Level". Wired.com. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  15. ^ "Building Mega: Ars' pre-launch interview with Kim Dotcom". Ars Technica. 19 January 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  16. ^ "SpiderOak's Analysis and Recommendations for the Crypto in Kim Dotcom's Mega, Part One". Spideroak.com. 23 January 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  17. ^ Admin (22 January 2013). "A word on cryptography". Mega.co.nz. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  18. ^ Admin (26 January 2013). "Mega's first week - a retrospective". Mega.co.nz. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  19. ^ Admin (2 February 2013). "The Mega Vulnerability Reward Program". Mega.co.nz. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  20. ^ "MegaUpload rises from the dead as Mega – Internet & Media - CNET News". News.cnet.com. 18 October 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  21. ^ "Kim Dotcom announces mega will have 50 GB of free storage space". 17 January 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  22. ^ "Mega packages". Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  23. ^ "The Mega API". Mega.co.nz. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  24. ^ "Using the Mega API, with Python examples! | Julien Marchand • Dev blog". Julien-marchand.fr. 28 January 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  25. ^ "sybil-sink/mega-sdk · GitHub". Github.com. 8 March 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  26. ^ Andres_age (28 February 2013). "MegaDownloader for Mega.co.nz: Watch videos online - streaming tutorial for Mega.co.nz". Megadownloaderapp.blogspot.com. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  27. ^ "Windows client and .NET API for Mega". Mega Desktop. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  28. ^ Admin (18 january 2013). "A word on browsers". Mega.co.nz. Retrieved 27 June 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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