Kim Dotcom: Mega is now 'a $210M company'
Cloud-storage provider Mega aims to list on the New Zealand stock exchange, even as its founder faces possible extradition to the US over online piracy charges.
Dotcom said via his Twitter feed on Tuesday that his recently formed storage locker Mega will be listed on the New Zealand stock exchange at a NZ$210 million ($179 million) valuation. The tweet was an obvious shot over the bow of international law enforcement agencies who have been trying for years to get him extradited back to the US for copyright infringement charges.
"Indicted. Raided. On Bail. All assets frozen without trial. But we don't cry ourselves to sleep. We built #Mega from 0 into a NZ$210m company," Dotcom wrote on his Twitter feed on Tuesday.
Dotcom was arrested in 2012 by the New Zealand government in connection with his former service Megaupload. That offering was shut down by law enforcement, which argued that the service, which allowed users to access professional content, cost the US entertainment industry over $500 million in allegedly stolen copyrighted material.
Since 2012, the US has been trying to extradite Dotcom to the States to have him face charges in connection with Megaupload. Dotcom, however, has argued that Megaupload was essentially a utility where people could store content. If that content was copyrighted, he argues, he shouldn't be held responsible.
Looking ahead, Dotcom is facing an extradition hearing in July. Meanwhile, Mega will remain available and ostensibly continue to grow. As of this writing, the service has over 7 million users.
(Via Reuters)