Megaupload
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2008) |
| Type of business | Limited |
|---|---|
Type of site | one-click hosting website |
| Available in | 20 languages |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Headquarters | Hong Kong |
| Key people | Kim Schmitz (CEO) Finn Batato (CMO) |
| URL | www.megaupload.com |
| Launched | March 21, 2005 |
| Current status | Active |
Megaupload is an online Hong Kong-based company established in 2005 for the use of uploading and downloading files. It includes a video browsing section in the site Megavideo, MegaLive, MegaPix and Megabox as well as a sister company called Megaporn (formerly Megarotic) which hosts user uploaded pornographic content.
Usage
The basic service is available for free and allows users to upload files of up to 2 GB. Free users cannot download files larger than 1 GB, however. Free registered users are offered 200 GB of total file storage. Premium users have unlimited file storage. After a successful file upload, the user is given a unique URL which allows others to download the file.
Any file uploaded anonymously will expire if there are no downloads for at least 21 days. For free registered accounts, the file expiration period is 90 days. Premium accounts have no expiration period as long as the user remains a premium member.[2]
Non-registered users have to wait 45 seconds in the download queue and a certain amount of time between transfers after a certain number of megabytes had been downloaded.[2] Registered users have to wait 25 seconds in the download queue.
Paying premium members are able to hotlink.
Statistics
- Unique visitors: 46,000,000
- Page Views: 450,000,000
- Reach: 3.5%[1]
Localization
The website is maintained in 20 languages, including Arabic, Chinese (traditional and simplified), Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, and Vietnamese.
Software
Mega Manager
Megaupload also released its upload/download manager, Mega Manager,[3] a download manager which features a link-checker for Megaupload links as well as options to manage uploaded files, and to access the online control box that is also on the Megaupload site. Mega Manager bears striking resemblances to Conceiva DownloadStudio version 5, self-evident in its "Options..." dialog box and some other aspects of the program. Mega Manager allows users to automatically resume interrupted up- and downloads, which is especially important when transferring large files or transferring several files unattended. Mega Manager has recently known to be faulty with its built-in Filemanager, as new files with their Megaupload links are not being displayed, only files four months and older. A quick email to Megaupload Support[4] helps correct this issue, but only for files that a user has posted up until they contacted them, future files are still not being displayed.
Megakey
Megakey is a software application which removes premium limitations on Mega services during "happy hour" periods in return for the verification of personal identity/demographic, and the substitution of ads on third party websites. Currently, more than 45 million people use Megakey.
FileBox
FileBox is a Flash applet which can be embedded onto any external webpage. It allows for users to upload content to MegaUpload without having to visit the website itself or download the Mega Manager.
Related services
MegaVideo
MegaVideo is an associated, ad-supported video hosting service. For non-members, it is time-limited; it blocks itself after 72 minutes, and then allows to resume watching after a 72 minute break. It is known for requiring viewers to wait 72 minutes after watching 72 minutes of film. However it is believed that people can get around this problem by reseting the router.
MegaPix
Launched in late 2010, MegaPix allows for the uploading of images, competing with other image-hosting services such as Photobucket, ImageShack, TinyPic and others.
MegaLive
MegaLive is a live video-streaming service, competing with Ustream, Justin.tv and Livestream.
MegaBox
MegaBox is a music/audio-hosting service for the uploading of whole music libraries and playlists.
MegaPorn
MegaPorn is a file, video-streaming and picture hosting service with pornographic content only.
Reception
Inaccessibility in some countries
Although its incorporation is located in Hong Kong, the company does not operate in Hong Kong. Users with Hong Kong IP addresses have been banned since 2009. Not even the homepage was accessible by them. Any purchased premium accounts will still be able to access the Megaupload site in Hong Kong until the last membership day. Some third party download managers can circumvent this, for example, the Megamanager and JDownloader. IPs from Mainland China have also been blocked. The reason for the block remains unclear.[5] A similar situation occurs in Fileserve, another file hosting service site.
As of 23 May 2010, access to Megaupload has been intermittently blocked by the internet authorities in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia's Communications and Information Technology Commission is responsible for regulating the internet and for hosting a firewall which blocks access to thousands of websites, mainly due to sexual and political content. Megavideo has also been blocked in the United Arab Emirates due to pornographic content being accessible through the service.
In Malaysia, as of 9 June 2011,the Malaysian government through Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission has ordered all ISPs in Malaysia to block Megaupload and Megavideo. Some ISPs have reportedly blocked all the sites on the list while other ISPs have been throttling connection speeds. In response a Facebook page has been started to protest the new filtering regime.
Criticism
Megaupload Toolbar is claimed to redirect users to a custom error page when a 404 error occurs in the user's browser. It is also claimed to contain spyware.[6] However, FBM software asserts that the Megaupload toolbar is free of spyware.[7]
References
- ^ "Alexa megaupload traffic results". Alexa. Retrieved 2011-05-18.
- ^ a b "Megaupload FAQ".
- ^ http://www.megaupload.com/manager/
- ^ http://www.megaupload.com/support
- ^ Is Megaupload dead in Hong Kong?
- ^ Megaupload Toolbar is a Spyware which Changes Browser Settings, TheCredence.com, 13/08/08
- ^ "MegaUpload Toolbar on Spyware-Net". Retrieved 2009-11-08.