The Megaupload file sharing service looks to be set to make a return half a decade after it was taken offline. Owner Kim Dotcom tweeted about his plans to relaunch the site that made him his fortune and got him into trouble with US authorities.
Megaupload’s new incarnation will apparently have something to do with Bitcoin, although nothing more has been said about it. Dotcom has promised “big announcements” coming in the near future.
I can tell you that Megaupload and Bitcoin had sex. There is a pregnancy and I have a feeling that the baby will be such a joy.
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) July 10, 2016
The FBI had shut down the site back in 2012 over piracy and copyright infringement claims. Dotcom was supposed to be extradited from New Zealand – where he resides – to the US to stand trial, but has successful fought off all legal challenges so far. Despite this, his extradition case is still ongoing.
This is not the first time that Dotcom has tried to return to the business that made him rich. He attempted to launch Mega.co.nz, a cloud storage service, back in 2013. While the site is still around, Dotcom was forced to hand over control of it to his investors and is no longer associated with it.
The new Megaupload is supposedly due for a launch in January 2017. That is, provided that Dotcom’s extradition hearing on 29 August 2016 doesn’t see him shipped to the US to face charges for copyright infringement and piracy first.
[Source: Twitter, Ars Technica]
