It’s less than a week until Kim Dotcom unveils the relaunched Mega but the New Zealand-based entrepreneur has suffered a blow after national media company Mediaworks pulled out of an agreement to advertise the file sharing and storage service on its radio stations.
German-born Dotcom posted details of the news to Twitter, claiming that record labels had pressured the broadcaster — which runs 10 radio stations in the country — into disassociating itself with the relaunch of Mega. It’s been more than one year since the US Department of Justice (DoJ) closed Megaupload in what it called one of “the largest criminal copyright cases ever”, and Dotcom suggests that certain institutes remain set against him.
Dotcom revealed that the parties had agreed to a 500 play-long campaign, but he doesn’t blame Mediaworks for the move.
Unfortunately Mediaworks pulled the plug on our radio ad campaign :-(
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) January 15, 2013
Apparently some music labels complained to Mediaworks about our radio ads. Booking of over 500 ad plays terminated. Wow!!!
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) January 16, 2013
Not blaming Mediaworks. They are a great company with great people. It’s the music labels that are abusing their power, again.
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) January 16, 2013
Dotcom, who has more than 191,000 followers, reached out to other radio stations but it is unclear whether there is time to schedule a new campaign ahead of the Mega launch this weekend.
If non-Mediaworks radio stations would like to play our ads pls contact twitter@kim.com with your terms. We’ll send you the MP3’s. #ASAP
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) January 16, 2013
The New Zealand Herald reports that MediaWorks did not specifically explain why the campaign was being pulled, other than to say it was due to “commercial reasons”.
“When it comes to details of relationships with all of our clients, including Mr Dotcom, we keep those arrangements pretty confidential,” a spokesperson said, before explaining that the issue was a “unique situation” for the company.
The run up to the Mega launch has also seen Dotcom reengage with the DoJ, which has fought back at the German’s claim that the organization misled a court in order to entrap Megaupload on copyright charges. However, filings from Megaupload show that the company had left copyright-violating content on its service because it was subject to a federal investigation, and therefore, as evidence, should be left untouched. Mega’s legal team argues that the DoJ used this to prosecute and shutdown Megaupload.
Dotcom has promised an event that is “like no other” for the Mega launch which will take place at his mansion on January 20 — yes, that’s Saturday night / Sunday local time. Dotcom picked the date becomes it marks the one year anniversary of the raid on his mansion led by New Zealand’s “Elite Special Tactics Group”; but either way it certainly stands out for a product launch.
Just getting the new Mega site online has been tricky for the German. The original plan to use the nicely fitting Me.ga domain was scuppered when the Gabon government — which claims .ga domains within its jurisdiction — suspended the domain because it didn’t want its country to be associated with “pirates”.
Dotcom eventually settled on a New Zealand-based domain – Mega.co.nz — which he says will be “powered by legality and protected by the law”.
Plenty of teasers relating to the relaunch of Mega and new music service Megabox have been circulated by Dotcom. He posted pictures of three Mega screenshots late last year, having previously gone public with video footage of Megabox, which hinted at a number of exclusive musicians. Developers have had early access to the Megaupload API since August.
The Next Web will be present at the Mega event over the weekend, so be sure to check back with us for the latest. It’s guaranteed to be one heck of an event.
Headline image via Sandra Mu/Getty Images
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