FollowNo other file sharing site has enjoyed the hype that Kim Dotcom’s new “Mega” has. Perhaps, it’s because of the pompous launch event, coupled with the legal issues surrounding its founder. And, let’s not forget the site’s tagline –“the privacy company.” That’s something which Dotcom has repeatedly touted about, calling his new venture a victory for Internet privacy. However, there are questions about its long-term survival.
Dotcom says that over one million users signed up for his new site within the first 24 hours. He has been tweeting Mega’s traffic statistics that seem to compare with the popular Dropbox. However, Alexa’s chart on the most-visited websites gives a clearer picture. While Mega, launched on Jan. 20, stood at 141 four days after the launch, it dropped to position 614 on Jan. 27.
Mega offers 50 GB of free space, far more than Dropbox’s 2 GB, Google Drive’s 5 GB and SkyDrive’s 7 GB. And there’s no limit on the size or type of the files shared. You may upgrade to premium plans at relatively cheaper prices – a 500 GB plan would cost you $160 per year, against $499 on Dropbox. It is optimized for web browsers and recommends only Google Chrome, saying that other browsers do not comply with its technology.
Mega’s encryption feature, which is supposed to add that extra privacy, is not without problems. Your password is the only way to access your account, but there’s no password reset or recovery feature. Mega’s doesn’t have a feature to automatically sync with files on your computer as well.
Mega says that it’s working on password recovery, file synching, etc., meaning that it is still in progress. So, you may need to keep backups on your disk or other cloud services.
Mega’s predecessor, the infamous MegaUpload, was shuttered by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2012 for allowing illegal distribution of copyrighted material. Anti-piracy groups are calling to block payment processor services to Mega’s resellers.
