Megaupload Successor Brings Encryption to the Mainstream

Oddly, almost nobody else has offered the technology to the non-techie public

For his latest trick Kim Dotcom is not just fighting back against his oppressors. He has unleashed the dogs of war. Whether the encrypted mega.co.nz does indeed cry havoc on the movie and recording industry is still playing out. But at the very least the exotic New Zealand resident has set one of Gareth Morgan's hated killer cats among the pigeons.

There's no doubt there's some utu at work here too. Dotcom is getting some payback for the way the United States, with the assistance of the New Zealand government, its police, and its spy agency, the GCSB, unilaterally shut down his megaupload.com business.

There is a touch of The Terminator too as Mega delivers a cheerfully maniacal "I'm baaack!"

But while most of the focus so far has been on whether the new cloud-based service passes the safe harbour test afforded to internet service providers—that they are only conduits for data and as such don't have any liability or responsibility for the content that flows through their servers—Mega makes encryption so easy, it could be a game changer.