Mega.co.nz will be the address of Kim Dotcom's proposed new cyber-locker service, the embattled entrepreneur has tweeted.

Dotcom has indicated he plans to launch the new service in January on the anniversary of the seizure of Megaupload by United States authorities.

His plan to use a Gabon address for the site, www.me.ga, was canned last week after Gabon's communications minister, Blaise Louembe, reportedly ordered the suspension of the address. Louembe made it clear the African nation did not welcome Dotcom's patronage.

New Zealand's domain name commissioner, Debbie Mohanan, said the commission would need a court order to revoke Dotcom's right to use mega.co.nz - in the event of it being used for any illegal activity.

The only other circumstance in which Dotcom's use of the address could be challenged was if someone else claimed a prior right to use the address, in which case any dispute could be settled through its own non-judicial dispute resolution scheme.

That appears unlikely. Records show mega.co.nz was first registered in July, apparently on behalf of Dotcom, through privately-owned Australian registrar Instra Corporation.

Dotcom tweeted mega.co.nz would be "powered by legality and protected by the law".

Dotcom said he would order servers for the new service from Germany after tweeting that a German court had "ruled against assisting the US govt in the Megaupload case".

- © Fairfax NZ News

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