If copyright laws were a protagonist, then MegaUpload would be the baddie that just won’t die. Though the original site has long since been taken down – the much-publicised court case has followed, with its owner still fighting extradition to the US – plans which will see founder Kim Dotcom launch what he himself calls “the ultimate file hosting solution” in follow-up 'Mega' seem, finally, to be coming to fruition.

January 19, 2013 is the date penned in as the day in which MegaUpload's successor will go live, exactly one year since the former was shut down by the United States Department of Justice and Dotcom's luxurious New Zealand estate was raided by authorities. Poetic justice, you might say. Branded the 'ultimate file hosting solution', Mega plans to be raid-proof in a bid for complete security and privacy for users' files. With every file uploaded by users encrypted using the AES algorithm, it will be the sole responsibility of the uploader to monitor exactly who can access the file as only they have access to a unique decryption key. From a legal perspective, what that means is Mega can plead ignorance in any future legal disputes between copyright holders and those the wrong side of the law, it having no knowledge of exactly what files it is hosting. Like The Pirate Bay that recently took to the cloud, Mega further plans to host its file in servers located across the globe to combat a potential shut-down.

Whether Dotcom manages to keep Mega on the straight and narrow, or if the US government are able to use it to strong-arm his extradition is anyone's guess at the moment. But one thing's for certain, MegaUpload is nearing the end of the road to recovery. All hail Mega.

Harvey McDaniel