Dotcom launches new mega.co.nz domain

Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom is continuing his effort to resurrect the file storage and sharing business that was confiscated by US and New Zealand authorities in a police raid this year, after allegations of widespread copyright infringement.

Linked gallery: Photos: Dotcom launches new file-sharing site

After losing the me.ga domain which was registered in the African country of Gabon, Dotcom has now activated an alternative site, mega.co.nz.

Dotcom said on Twitter that "New Zealand will be the home of our new website: Mega.co.nz - powered by the legality and protected by the law." 

While the new site uses a New Zealand-registered domain, it resides on a network in Luxembourg in Europe.

Dotcom's new mega.co.nz site

The new business promises securely encrypted storage and a cloud-based live file system hosted in multiple locations around the world.

Lawyers for the United States have already threatened the new service, saying it could breach Dotcom's bail conditions.

US department of justice attorney Neil MacBride filed a court document accusing Dotcom of having intentionally misled the New Zealand court.

MacBride alleged that operating the new business could jeopardise the Megaupload founder's bail and even "subject him to additional charges". 

Dotcom and associates Bram van der Kolk, Mathias Ortmann and Finn Batato are out on bail in New Zealand, awaiting an extradition hearing in March next year.

If sent to the US and convicted of copyright infringement, the Megaupload four face 20-year prison sentences and million dollar fines.