Watch out, Microsoft. Here comes Kim Dotcom with his latest industry disrupting service. The billionaire genius behind Megaupload has launched MegaChat, a video calling service in the same mold as Skype. But with once crucial difference: it’s encrypted.
Kim Dotcom first announced MegaChat in December, when he declared that it would dominate Skype and provide a secure alternative to the Microsoft-owned service, which has been targeted for surveillance by the National Security Agency. According to documents obtained by The Guardian from whistleblower Edward Snowden, Skype also cooperated with the NSA by allowing user communication to be monitored.
MegaChat is targeted at people who are wary of Skype’s security (and its browser-based model is also a swipe at Microsoft’s plans to integrate Skype into Internet Explorer so people don’t have to download its desktop app).
MegaChat is being rolled out feature-by-feature and Kim Dotcom has stated on his Twitter profile that there are still a few kinks left to be sort out.