When Kim Dotcom's New Zealand uber-mansion was raided exactly one year ago yesterday, the eccentric web entrepreneur's takedown made headlines around the globe. And in his typically theatrical fashion, the German-born internet mogul marked the anniversary of his arrest by launching his new cloud locker with a sensational media event featuring a fake FBI raid (complete with helicopters and jeeps).

Dramatics aside, Dotcom's new service - Mega - looks to provide a new-and-improved makeover of the former file locker Megaupload, which was controversially shut down by US authorities a year ago. The new site, which is currently under heavy load after opening up for registrations on the weekend, allows users to store and share files in the cloud (Dropbox-style) and boasts a number of security and encryption features designed to protect user privacy, plus an upcoming 'Megakey' function seemingly designed to reward users with free content in exchange for watching custom advertising. 

Free and Pro Mega memberships are currently available, but in light of heavy ongoing scrutiny of Kim Dotcom by US authorities, users might best be advised to hold onto a local copy of any data you back up to Mega (when Megaupload was shut down, hundreds of thousands of users lost access to any files hosted on the service, so don't make the same mistake).