Mega big success - also plans to offer encrypted mail, calls and chat

If it doesn't kill you, it will make you stronger is something the anti-piracy organisations should keep in mind when trying to take down download sites. After each attempt of the anti-piracy organisations new technology emerges to continue to allow billions of internet users around the world to share files. When they brought down Napster, KaZaa and Gnutella emerged. When they brought down KaZaa and Gnutella, torrents and newsgroups became popular. When they somehow disappear, technology like Tor which encrypts files and communication will likely set the new standard.

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Encryption also seems to be the new weapon of choice for those who want to offer the freedom to store what you want on a cloud based hosting provider. Mega, the new service from Kim Dotcom, founder of MegaUpload, has seen an immense popularity during its launch. Several times the website was unusable and Dotcom claims it has now 1 million users, only in two days. The service encrypts any data you send to their servers in your browser first. This means that your browser encrypts the actual file with a password you've chosen and then sends this encrypted file to the Mega servers. Due to this, Mega has no clue what is on their servers and as long as you don't share it with anyone, nobody knows.

This has implications, both negative and positive. As Dotcom has been dealing with legal authorities when they shutdown his former cloud storage provider MegaUpload he no longer wants to be held responsible for files hosted on his platform. His solution is encryption, as the only one who can decrypt the files is the owner of the file and those to which he shares the files, nobody else can see it. This means Mega can't actively check for illegal content and therefor not be held responsible although Mega states in its Terms of Service that it will comply with copyright laws and has an e-mail address listed for copyright notices.

Unfortunately this also means that the service can be abused. The above mentioned Tor network, which uses encryption to share files and also supports encrypted communication is known to be used by dissidents in undemocratic countries, but also by pedophiles and drugs traffickers. As Mega is unable to check what is on their servers, their service could be abused by the same kind of people. Where Tor is known to be slow and requires additional software to be installed, Mega is browser based and once all bugs are ironed out, very fast.

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On their website Mega also states that it wants to offer more UCE (User Controller Encryption) services, like e-mail, chat, calls and video, all encrypted and browser based. While innovation and new technology should be embraced any time, we should also be aware of the dangers it can bring when those who want to break the law start to (ab)use it.

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