megaupload.com
Megaupload.com is the old web address of the defunct Megaupload file-sharing service, and it is not a working public upload site in September 2026.
What was Megaupload.com used for?
Megaupload.com let people upload large files to the web and share them with a simple link.
The service started in 2005 and became one of the best-known “cyberlocker” sites of its time.
People used it for videos, music, software, photos, backups, and many other kinds of files.
Some people used it for legal sharing, while other users shared copyrighted files without permission.
The old service was run by Megaupload Limited, a Hong Kong company linked to founder Kim Dotcom.
The U.S. Department of Justice said the site once claimed more than 150 million registered users and about 50 million daily visitors.
That scale made Megaupload.com much more than a small file locker.
Why did Megaupload.com become so popular?
Megaupload made large-file sharing easy when email limits were small and cloud drives were still young.
A user could upload one file, copy one link, and send that link to many people.
Free users could download files, while paid plans offered faster access and fewer limits.
This simple model made the site useful for normal sharing and also made public file links spread very fast.
The site also paid rewards to some uploaders, which helped push more content onto the service.
The mix of easy uploads, public links, paid accounts, and huge traffic made Megaupload.com a major web brand before modern cloud storage became normal.
Why was Megaupload.com shut down?
On January 19, 2012, U.S. authorities seized Megaupload-related domains and charged several people tied to the company.
Prosecutors alleged that the business made money while encouraging large-scale copyright infringement.
They said the operation caused more than $500 million in losses to copyright owners and earned more than $175 million in proceeds.
Those numbers came from government allegations, so they should not be read as a final court finding against every person charged.
One former Megaupload programmer, Andrus Nomm, later pleaded guilty in the United States, according to a separate Justice Department record.
The shutdown also cut users off from files that had been stored on the service.
Does Megaupload.com work today?
Megaupload.com does not operate as the original file-hosting service today.
A current domain registration record shows that the .com name still exists and is registered through March 2027.
That does not mean the old Megaupload business has returned.
When checked in September 2026, the domain did not provide a normal working upload service.
Old Megaupload links should therefore be treated as dead links unless a separate archive saved a public page.
You should also be careful with sites that copy the old name or logo, because a familiar brand name does not prove that a site is official.
Is Megaupload.com the same as MEGA?
No, the old Megaupload.com service and today’s MEGA cloud service are not the same website.
Kim Dotcom launched MEGA in 2013, one year after Megaupload was shut down.
MEGA later became a separate cloud storage business under its own company and domain.
The modern service is commonly found at MEGA, not at Megaupload.com.
This name link causes confusion because both services share part of the word “Mega” and have a connected early history.
If you only want current cloud storage, use the official address of the service you choose instead of an old Megaupload link.
What is happening with Kim Dotcom now?
The legal story did not end when Megaupload.com went offline.
Kim Dotcom has spent years fighting U.S. extradition from New Zealand.
In July 2026, New Zealand’s Court of Appeal rejected his latest attempt to block extradition, according to Reuters.
New Zealand court records then listed a Supreme Court application for permission to appeal as case SC 81/2026.
The Courts of New Zealand page shows that application as part of the continuing case.
This means Megaupload.com is dead as a service, but the legal fight around its founder is still part of the current story.
What should you remember about Megaupload.com?
The most useful fact is simple: Megaupload.com is a historic domain, not a normal file-sharing tool you can use today.
Its rise shows how much people wanted easy large-file sharing before Google Drive, Dropbox, and modern cloud apps became common.
Its fall also shows that a platform can face major legal risk when users, rewards, public links, and copyrighted content mix at very large scale.
For today’s users, the safest choice is to use a current cloud service, check the real domain name, and share only files you have the right to share.