Kim Dotcom launches Megaupload replacement Mega

Mega, the new file-sharing site from controversial figure Kim Dotcom is now live.

The portal is a replacement for Megaupload, which was taken offline last year following pressure from copyright holders.

However, Dotcom argues that the new site is just as legitimate and has the right to exist as Dropbox, Boxnet and other competitors”.

Dotcom confirmed that the new portal attracted a quarter of a million registrations in its first 14 hours and reports claim that it has now hit a million. In fact, such was its popularity that the site went offline for a period yesterday, forcing Dotcom to apologise on Twitter.

Mega offers each user 50GB of free storage, vastly in excess of its rivals.

The launch was marked by a lavish party at Dotcom’s New Zealand mansion and at one point saw actors dressed as armed police pretending to storm the building – a re-enactment of the real-life scenes last year that saw Dotcom arrested.

Dotcom still faces possible extradition to the US, with a hearing scheduled for August. He is still fighting to get access to the 25 petabytes of data seized by authorities when the site was closed.