What is Megaupload 2.0, What is Bitcache and Who is Kim DotCom?

Megaupload 2 is due to be launched on 20th of January. This could be the first mainstream application for Bitcoin. With the price of Bitcoin rising (now > $1000) and it hitting mainstream media (including CNBC and the Wall Street Journal) there will also be a lot of coverage over the coming weeks of Megaupload 2.0 and Bitcache in the press. There is not a lot of information about the exact details out there but here is what is know at this stage.

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Megaupload 2.0

This will be a new service to share files over the internet.

Filesharing

In 2016 to share files over the web your options were:

• Dropbox, Google Drive, YouTube for the mainstream sharing
• Torrents for larger files and for more tech savvy users
• Professional websites for public file sharing via download or stream
• Email or WhatsApp groups, popular but really inefficient and insecure ways of sharing files

The problems with filesharing...

For Companies

• All companies are afraid of illegal content. If they knowingly store illegal content for their users they could be held liable; Pirate media, morally questionable content etc.
• They are also afraid of being targets of hackers or otherwise losing customer data.

For Users

Users are afraid that their private content

• is shared with people who should not have access, e.g. marketing companies, governments
• is not stored securely and open to theft
• use is limited by by size, bandwith etc.

The Solution

Distributed servers, and end to end encryption which would mean the data is under no particular jurisdiction, no one point of failure and because it's encrypted it can only be accessed as intended.

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Not possible till now

The missing ingredients

Distributed servers and a suitable form of micro payment have been the key missing ingredients till now.

The infrastructure for distributed cloud storage has been solved by companies such as Maidsafe, Storj and others. Megaupload 2.0 will be a front end which allows users to upload and download files to these clouds.
There will be a cost for this for users. This is expected to be minimal and in the form of micropayments.

Megaupload 2.0

The idea is that it will be free to host and upload files, but if you want to download a file from someone's locker, it will cost you something per file. e.g $0.05 per file.

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Digital currency in general has reduced the threshold which is viable to make a digital payments but true micropayments (fractions of a cent) would overload the Bitcoin network and would not be viable as the small fee required to broadcast the transaction to the Bitcoin network would be more than the payment itself.

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Bitcache

Bitcache has big ambitions. It's linked to the Bitcoin Blockchain but it is an off chain solution which means that the transactions will occur on a private network but is linked back to the Bitcoin blockchain. In a way it's like Bitcache is a new cryptocurrency but it will convert back to Bitcoin automatically. This is a way of reduce the congestion on the Bitcoin network and the risk to users should be minimal according to Kim.

Bitcache is much more than just Megaupload 2.0. It will be a micro payment solution and could have extensive applications for digital content as a replacement for advertising revenue, e.g. news sites, steaming media, website tips,

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Who is Kim dotcom

Kim is a larger than life character who set up the famous and very successful filesharing website Megaupload. He now lives in New Zealand. He has been involved in a legal case with the US government for years relating to Megaupload. Details about his life are available from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Dotcom and he also has a website http://kim.com/.

Be sure to check out his interview on the Keiser report where he gives some details of Megaupload 2.0

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Get your free Bitcoin

According to one website "Kim Dotcom has said he will gift the first five million Megaupload 2.0 users a small, as yet unknown amount, of Bitcoin in their Bitcache wallet when the service launches in January 2017." If your an early adopter this is a win win so sign up early.

Early access

Follow @kimdotcom on Twitter where you may get a coupon for early access to the site.

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Other Interesting Material

If you want to see what makes Kim tick its worth check out his promotional video for the Good Life video which he released some years back. Kim hopes to use the video to inspire people. Its description reads: “A fat kid and school dropout from a poor family made his dreams come true. You can do it too.”

I have linked here to his website.

Credits

Images from pixabay.com and torrentfreak.com