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Kim Dotcom’s Megaupload 2.0 Will Utilize Blockchain Technology

96 points by PolBaladas 10y ago

PolBaladas 10y ago
dropchain.tech
quickben 10y ago
There is an interesting pattern developing lately. From the numerous examples: Lavabit relaunch now requires name/personal details on signing up for the email. Now the Megaupload 2.0 will add an exact record to their service. How are all these services that praised anonymity now requiring less of it?
- devoply 10y ago
  At the end of the day they have to cover their ass. So they are doing things that if they end up in court, they can use to defend themselves.
- mike-cardwell 10y ago
  Lavabit now accepts Bitcoin and requires no personal information. I just signed up without supplying a name or address and using Bitcoin. [edit] Also worth noting that I signed up using the Tor Browser Bundle and that there was no issue, no captchas etc.
- colordrops 10y ago
  Also Signal (at least on android) requires access to a bunch of permissions as well as your phone number. Not sure why everyone is so hyped on Signal.
TazeTSchnitzel 10y ago
Didn't he already create a Megaupload successor, i.e. mega.co.nz?
- citrusui 10y ago
  Yes, but he resigned in 2013 (the same year MEGA was launched) in order to focus on his political career[0]. Bill Liu, who had some control over MEGA, was arrested in November, a couple of months ago[1]. [0]: http://geeksnack.com/mega-founder-reveals-bill-liu-5th-most-wanted-in-china-controls-mega/ http://geeksnack.com/mega-founder-reveals-bill-liu-5th-most-... [1]: http://i.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/national-news/86407030/Fugitive-Chinese-businessman-living-in-New-Zealand-for-15-years-arrested-in-China http://i.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/national-news/86407...
Terr_ 10y ago
Yet another investment scam from a lifetime fraudster. Isn't he due to change his last name again? Hopefully his undeserved Robin-Hood glamour from government-troubles has faded by now.
- disordinary 10y ago
  I don't know, Megaupload and mega.co.nz are and were legitimate products and services. Surely a fraudster who was after investment scams wouldn't actually deliver products?
  - Terr_ 10y ago
    One of the few advertised products he's ever delivered, really. There's a decent writeup [0] for some of his past run-ins with the law and crazy claims. Come to think of it, there are some Trumpesque parallels. https://www.wired.com/2012/01/kim-dotcom/ https://www.wired.com/2012/01/kim-dotcom/
- vorg 10y ago
  Sounds to me like he's providing a service that enables people to get around the government-backed scams of never ending copyrights. When the copyright's about to expire, the U.S. govt bullies other govts into signing another treaty extending the time period.
Tree1993 10y ago
sia coin will encrypt your data before upload and it's totally blockchain—based. http://sia.tech/ http://sia.tech/
- alecco 10y ago
  Not open source like Storj. I hate nodejs but I'm not running a proprietary binary on something so important for my privacy and security.
  - nemo1618 10y ago
    Sia is 100% open source: https://github.com/NebulousLabs/Sia https://github.com/NebulousLabs/Sia
PolBaladas 10y ago
Check dropchain.tech out! Decentralized cloud storage and notarization service based on Ethereum's Blockchain. http://dropchain.tech/ http://dropchain.tech/
forrestthewoods 10y ago
He made $300,000,000.00 off MegaUpload off the backs of actual content creators. He knowingly and willingly broke the law. He's scum and he deserves to rot in jail. </UnpopularOpinion>
- deftnerd 10y ago
  It's an unpopular opinion because it's childishly simplistic. You could say the same thing about the internet providers, where streaming media of copyrighted content consists of the majority of their traffic. The providers do not know what streams are valid or invalid, and we do not want them to have the ability or right to monitor all of our internet traffic to determine that. They know that many of their users are likely streaming or downloading media from sources that do not compensate the content creators. But they also know that if they start identifying that, then they'll start being liable. Kim Dotcom was in the same situation. He knew that people on his platform were likely using it for file storage of files they didn't own the distribution rights to or own a license to have a personal copy of. He was legally been unable to start going through those and removing access (unless reported through a DMCA-like-mechanism) because then he would be moderating his platform and that opens him up to liability if his moderation tactics are not 100% effective. Safe Harbor provisions are important and he was trying to keep them in place for his service.
  - agumonkey 10y ago
    Sad part is for people who used it extensively for legitimate purposes and lost important data. Even businesses.
    - atomical 10y ago
      I have never heard of a business using Mega.
      - poisonarena 10y ago
        I used it all the time to send, host files for clients
RichardHeart 10y ago
tldr; He has his own implementation of lightning network called "bitcache" and plans to use it as a payment method on his file sharing system. This seems more like a marketing piece for megaupload 2 than it does an interesting article on technology use.

96 points by PolBaladas 10y ago

dropchain.tech

There is an interesting pattern developing lately. From the numerous examples: Lavabit relaunch now requires name/personal details on signing up for the email. Now the Megaupload 2.0 will add an exact record to their service. How are all these services that praised anonymity now requiring less of it?

devoply 10y ago
At the end of the day they have to cover their ass. So they are doing things that if they end up in court, they can use to defend themselves.
mike-cardwell 10y ago
Lavabit now accepts Bitcoin and requires no personal information. I just signed up without supplying a name or address and using Bitcoin. [edit] Also worth noting that I signed up using the Tor Browser Bundle and that there was no issue, no captchas etc.
colordrops 10y ago
Also Signal (at least on android) requires access to a bunch of permissions as well as your phone number. Not sure why everyone is so hyped on Signal.

TazeTSchnitzel 10y ago

Didn't he already create a Megaupload successor, i.e. mega.co.nz?

citrusui 10y ago
Yes, but he resigned in 2013 (the same year MEGA was launched) in order to focus on his political career[0]. Bill Liu, who had some control over MEGA, was arrested in November, a couple of months ago[1]. [0]: http://geeksnack.com/mega-founder-reveals-bill-liu-5th-most-wanted-in-china-controls-mega/ http://geeksnack.com/mega-founder-reveals-bill-liu-5th-most-... [1]: http://i.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/national-news/86407030/Fugitive-Chinese-businessman-living-in-New-Zealand-for-15-years-arrested-in-China http://i.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/national-news/86407...

Terr_ 10y ago

Yet another investment scam from a lifetime fraudster. Isn't he due to change his last name again? Hopefully his undeserved Robin-Hood glamour from government-troubles has faded by now.

disordinary 10y ago
I don't know, Megaupload and mega.co.nz are and were legitimate products and services. Surely a fraudster who was after investment scams wouldn't actually deliver products?
- Terr_ 10y ago
  One of the few advertised products he's ever delivered, really. There's a decent writeup [0] for some of his past run-ins with the law and crazy claims. Come to think of it, there are some Trumpesque parallels. https://www.wired.com/2012/01/kim-dotcom/ https://www.wired.com/2012/01/kim-dotcom/
vorg 10y ago
Sounds to me like he's providing a service that enables people to get around the government-backed scams of never ending copyrights. When the copyright's about to expire, the U.S. govt bullies other govts into signing another treaty extending the time period.

Tree1993 10y ago

sia coin will encrypt your data before upload and it's totally blockchain—based. http://sia.tech/ http://sia.tech/

alecco 10y ago
Not open source like Storj. I hate nodejs but I'm not running a proprietary binary on something so important for my privacy and security.
- nemo1618 10y ago
  Sia is 100% open source: https://github.com/NebulousLabs/Sia https://github.com/NebulousLabs/Sia

PolBaladas 10y ago

Check dropchain.tech out! Decentralized cloud storage and notarization service based on Ethereum's Blockchain. http://dropchain.tech/ http://dropchain.tech/

forrestthewoods 10y ago

He made $300,000,000.00 off MegaUpload off the backs of actual content creators. He knowingly and willingly broke the law. He's scum and he deserves to rot in jail. </UnpopularOpinion>

deftnerd 10y ago
It's an unpopular opinion because it's childishly simplistic. You could say the same thing about the internet providers, where streaming media of copyrighted content consists of the majority of their traffic. The providers do not know what streams are valid or invalid, and we do not want them to have the ability or right to monitor all of our internet traffic to determine that. They know that many of their users are likely streaming or downloading media from sources that do not compensate the content creators. But they also know that if they start identifying that, then they'll start being liable. Kim Dotcom was in the same situation. He knew that people on his platform were likely using it for file storage of files they didn't own the distribution rights to or own a license to have a personal copy of. He was legally been unable to start going through those and removing access (unless reported through a DMCA-like-mechanism) because then he would be moderating his platform and that opens him up to liability if his moderation tactics are not 100% effective. Safe Harbor provisions are important and he was trying to keep them in place for his service.
- agumonkey 10y ago
  Sad part is for people who used it extensively for legitimate purposes and lost important data. Even businesses.
  - atomical 10y ago
    I have never heard of a business using Mega.
    - poisonarena 10y ago
      I used it all the time to send, host files for clients

RichardHeart 10y ago

tldr; He has his own implementation of lightning network called "bitcache" and plans to use it as a payment method on his file sharing system. This seems more like a marketing piece for megaupload 2 than it does an interesting article on technology use.