A discontinued file hosting and sharing service founded in 2005, offering users a platform to store and share files with unique download links.
MegaUpload was a file hosting and sharing service founded in 2005 by Kim Dotcom and Mathias Ortmann. It allowed users to upload files up to 2GB in size to MegaUpload's servers and share them with others via unique download links.
A key feature of MegaUpload was that it did not require users to have an account or be registered to upload or download files. This made sharing files quick and easy. Users could also pay for premium accounts for higher upload limits and faster download speeds.
At its peak around 2011, MegaUpload was one of the most popular file sharing services on the web with over 180 million registered users. It accounted for around 4% of all internet traffic. MegaUpload generated over $175 million in revenues from premium accounts and online ads.
In January 2012, MegaUpload was shut down by the U.S. Justice Department after being accused of costing copyright holders over $500 million in lost revenue. The indictment led to the arrest of Kim Dotcom and other executives in New Zealand. MegaUpload's shutdown was controversial as it lost legitimate users access to their personal non-infringing files stored on its servers.