Mega gives 50GB of free encrypted cloud storage to anyone on Earth. Users willing to pay just over $9 a month get a staggering 4 terabytes. All data is encrypted, giving Mega legal deniability for any copyright infringement. The site is a spiritual successor to Megaupload, also founded by Dotcom, which was known to many internet user as a great place to watch pirated TV shows and movies.
Mega had to survive without a credit card payment processor for almost 2 years now. The air is getting thin. Backup your Mega files asap.
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) April 21, 2016
In a recent tweet, Dotcom explains that Mega is running out of money, in part because credit card processors won’t work with the company.
Dotcom, for those who don’t remember, made headlines in 2012 for his bombastic response to the U.S. government shutting down the hugely popular file sharing site Megaupload. At one point, for example, he posted a music video/commercial where celebrities like P. Diddy, Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, and Serena Williams all endorsed the site.
It was … not great. But it’s typical of Dotcom’s style: high-profile trolling of the music industry and the U.S. government. Users loved this sort of gesture, and the site itself, but authorities weren’t pleased with repeated non-responses to copyright takedown notices.
Eventually Megaupload was shut down. Dotcom was arrested in a dramatic raid on his Auckland, New Zealand, mansion. This was a joint effort between New Zealand authorities, the FBI, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Hong Kong Department of Justice, and authorities from several other countries.
Ever since then, Dotcom has been appealing his case in the New Zealand court system, while also launching Mega. In December, however, New Zealand authorities ruled he was eligible to extradition to the United States.
This recent tweet implies that Mega might not be long for this world, as money runs out and government seizure looms. If you’ve got files on Mega that you want to keep, download them soon.
