Mega CEO talks about being spied upon at TedX

There's very few people that are ok with the idea of being spied on by government agencies and even less that like it. However when it's going on, there isn't a lot we can do, even if you're a millionaire head of an encrypted cloud network. That's the situation Vikram Kumar found himself in – or at least, so he says – when he took on the role of new Mega CEO last year and he's spoken about the experience at TedX in Queenstown New Zealand.
“The company founders [Mr Dotcom and others] were under surveillance by the GCSB and its partner, the NSA, the start-up was not doing anything bad but it was in the national interest of the US to keep an eye on the company,” he said, going on to discuss how initially the idea of being watched all the time was laughable, but that as time went on, it became less tasteful and more comparable to the five stages of grief.

Today Mr Kumar's aims are more political, heading up Kim Dotcom's Internet Party, hence the more vocal attack against mass surveillance. 

Citing the admission of the NSA head General Alexander, that PRISM had stopped no more than a single act of terrorism, Kumar went on to call on everyone to reject mass surveillance. “Governments are entering into every corner of our lives, I think it's important. The internet makes each one of us an easy target for everyone all over the world,” he said, suggesting that it must be stopped.

KitGuru Says: I've said it before but it's worth repeating, I'm becoming quietly confident that there will be some measure of reform when it comes to spying laws. There's enough impetus behind it from all corners, that the smell of change is in the air. [Thanks Stuff]

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