Megaupload

Definition - What does Megaupload mean?

Megaupload, officially Megaupload Limited, was a Hong Kong based online services company widely known for its primary website, megaupload.com. Megaupload also ran websites that offered online services like file viewing and file storage. In January 2012, all the websites operated by Megaupload were shut down and the domain names seized on the grounds that the organization was operating an organization that was dedicated to the criminal act of copyright infringement.

Techopedia explains Megaupload

Megaupload was founded by Kim Schmitz (Kim Dotcom) and ran online services like one-click file, video and image hosting, along with other similar services, earning the company an estimated $175 million in criminal proceeds. Megaupload.com accumulated more than 1 billion page views since it was launched in 2005. It had 180 million registered members and a total storage of 25 petabytes. It was once the 13th most visited website on the whole Internet and accounted for 1 percent of the total traffic in North America for fixed access networks.

When the company was shut down in January of 2012, Hong Kong’s Customs and Excise department froze assets worth HK$330 million.