New Online Storage Service to Put Users in Charge WELLINGTON - Kim Dotcom, the founder of the closed file-sharing site Megaupload, which had housed material as varied as family photos and blockbuster films, announced Thursday a new online storage service called Mega that will give users direct control over - and responsibility for - their files. Mega will begin service in January, just before Mr. Dotcom, the Internet entrepreneur, is scheduled to face a hearing on whether he can be extradited from New Zealand to the United States, where he and other Megaupload operators face charges of online piracy, fraud and money laundering. The U.S. government alleges that Megaupload, once one of the world's most popular Web sites, was directly responsible for illegally uploaded content and that it netted $175 million from unlawful activities. "The new Mega will not be threatened by U.S. prosecutors," Mr. Dotcom said in an interview, adding that he was confident Mega would avoid violating U.S. law. The new Mega avoids any dealings with U.S. hosters, U.S. domains and U.S. backbone providers and has changed the way it operates to avoid another takedown. In other words, the new site will not use U.S.-based host companies as partners in an effort to avoid being shut down by the U.S. authorities. Megaupload was shut down last January. New Zealand police helicopters swooped into Mr. Dotcom's mansion outside Auckland to seize computers and other evidence at the request of the U.S. authorities. Users of the new service will be able to upload, store and share photos, text files, music and films, encrypt those files and grant access using unique decryption keys. "You hold the keys to what you store in the cloud, not us," a statement on the Mega Web site said. While the new site will operate faster and have a bigger storage capacity, the encryption technology is a major change from Megaupload, with the objective that Mega operators will not have access to files and will therefore be immune to content liability. The encryption system also aims to make it the job of content owners to ensure that files are not pirated, a major change from Megaupload, which the U.S. film industry says was directly responsible for taking down illegally uploaded content. "Content owners can still remove infringing material and they will even get direct delete access if they agree not to make us responsible for actions of users," Mr. Dotcom said.