Kim Dotcom’s Megaupload sequel has hit another roadblock. The larger than life figure and alleged piracy kingpin previously announced that he was launching a new cloud-based file sharing service known as Mega in January. The website was expected to be hosted on the Gabon-based me.ga domain rather than a traditional .com, however the small West African nation has said it has suspended the domain, PHYS.org reported on Tuesday.
“I have instructed my departments to immediately suspend the site http://www.me.ga,” Gabon’s Communication Minister Blaise Louembe said, adding that the country will “protect intellectual property rights” and “fight cyber crime effectively”. The minister continued, “Gabon cannot serve as a platform or screen for committing acts aimed at violating copyrights, nor be used by unscrupulous people.”
The paranoid founder chalked the ban up to “the bad faith witch hunt” conducted by the United States government and said the site already has “an alternative domain” lined up. Dotcom’s Silicon Valley lawyer, Ira Rothken, confirmed the story in an interview with CNET and once again proclaimed his client’s innocence.
“The [new] site is not even functional yet,” Rothken said. “MegaUpload and Kim are innocent and presumed innocent. It sounds like a lack of net neutrality in Gabon…We’re just going to use a different domain.”
