The infamous brains behind MegaUpload, Kim Dotcom, has just launched the beta version of his latest product: a browser-based encrypted video calling and file-sharing service he hopes will take on the Microsoft-owned Skype.
Called MegaChat, the service uses what is called User Controlled Encryption (UCE), meaning that you get a decryption key provided, and are then free to send it to people so that they you can trade files with them. Like the Web-based MegaUpload, no software installation is required, although there are Chrome and Firefox extensions which aid with improved performance and security.
We are releasing #MegaChat beta step by step. Starting with video calling today. Text chat & video conferencing will follow soon.
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) January 22, 2015
While Skype is definitely a popular service, it also took a beating from the post-Edward Snowden revelations, with previously classified documents showing that Microsoft had collaborated closely with U.S. intelligence to circumvent the company’s own encryption — thereby allowing users’ communications to be intercepted.
Kim Dotcom may not always be presented as the most trustworthy figure (although none other than Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak thinks he’s been unfairly portrayed), but it certainly seems that he’s doing his best to show how secure MegaChat is: offering a reward to anyone able to discover a security bug.
Via: TechCrunch
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
One response to “MegaUpload founder brings video calling to your browser”
Not many can claim to be able to eat The Woz for lunch….