Face to face with Kim Dotcom as he launches Mega, talks about Megakey and the future of free content
If there’s one place that you want to be for the launch of Mega.co.nz, it’s within Kim Dotcom’s mansion. That’s precisely where I’ve been today. Sure we knew that Dotcom was larger than life, but actually being at the mansion is a different story. Elaborate statues and expensive pieces of art, giant kitchen sized fish tanks and sprawling pools. It’s an incredible sight.
Early this afternoon, we sat down at a media round table with Kim Dotcom and talked about the past of Megaupload, the extradition, his plans for Mega going forward as well as some of the other services that the company has planned, and there’s much more than anyone probably ever imagined.
As Dotcom walked into the room dressed in the same outfit you may remember from the raids last year, there was an air of excitement. You could tell he was proud of Mega and how it had performed today. Inevitably, the first question that was raised by the media at the table was “just how popular was Mega this morning?” Dotcom smiled. He didn’t want to share exact figures – and plans to reveal more later tonight at a special press event for well over 200 attendees, but did say that in the first two hours the site saw over 250,000 sign ups. Even better? They were overwhelmed by just how many people wanted to actually pay for the product.
