A few hours ago Kim Dotcom was gearing up to make an important announcement about a new version of the defunct Megaupload service. However, with minutes left to go, the Megaupload 2.0 plans hit an "expected" roadblock, which means that the wait continues.

January 2012, New Zealand Police carried out the largest action ever against individuals accused of copyright infringement.

The raid on Kim Dotcom’s Coatesville mansion was carried out on behalf of United States authorities, who are still trying to extradite him and several of his former colleagues.

Meanwhile, Dotcom hasn’t been sitting still. Today, exactly five years after the raid on his house and the destruction of the original Megaupload, the entrepreneur planned to announce fresh details on a new and improved version, Megaupload 2.0.

Dotcom, who is not officially part of the venture but acts as its chief “evangelist,” informed us a few months ago that the launch was delayed but that more information would come out today.

“It is unlikely that we can make a full January 20th launch happen. The fund-raising was delayed and the legal team needed more time for the new setup. But we will reveal more details about Megaupload 2 and Bitcache on that special day,” Dotcom said at the time.

Those who followed Dotcom’s Twitter updates were indeed promised some “big news,” but at the end of the day things turned out quite differently. The announcement had to be delayed due to an “expected” roadblock.

“Sorry but there has been an expected hiccup. Will tell you all about it later today. Let this play out and give me some time to update you,” Dotcom noted.

No further details on the exact reason for the delay were provided, but the Megaupload 2.0 team is actively working on a solution. This may take a few days, according to a message posted by Dotcom a few hours ago.

Operation Destroy roadblock



This appears to be the first bump in the road after Megaupload 2.0 was first mentioned last summer. Prospective users who are eager for more details have to be patient for a little longer.

From what has been revealed thus far, Megaupload 2.0 and the associated Bitcache platform will allow people to share and store files, linking every file-transfer to a bitcoin transaction.

The bitcoin element is not the only part that’s new. Unlike the original Megaupload, the new incarnation isn’t going to store all files itself. Instead, it plans to use third-party providers such as Maidsafe and Storj.

This means that the new Megaupload will mostly act as a middleman between other file-storage platforms, adding a separate layer of encryption through Bitcache.

More information and perhaps some technical details are expected to follow in the near future.