Danny Puff

SYDNEY (AP) Indicted Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom launched a new file-sharing website that promises users greater privacy and defies the U.S. prosecutors who accuse him of facilitating massive online piracy.

The colorful entrepreneur unveiled the "Mega" site ahead of a lavish gala and news conference at his New Zealand mansion on Sunday night, the anniversary of his arrest on racketeering charges related to his now-shuttered Megaupload file-sharing site. The site Dotcom started in 2005 was one of the most popular sites on the Web until U.S. prosecutors shut it down and accused him and several company officials of facilitating millions of illegal downloads.

In Dotcom's typical grandiose style, the launch party featured a tongue-in-cheek re-enactment of the dramatic raid on his home a year earlier, when New Zealand police swooped down in helicopters onto the mansion grounds and nabbed him in a safe room where he was hiding.

"Mega is going to be huge, and nothing will stop Mega whoo!" a gleeful Dotcom bellowed from a giant stage set up in his yard, seconds before a helicopter roared overhead and faux police agents rappelled down the side of his mansion. Dotcom eventually ordered everyone to "stop this madness!" before breaking out into a dance alongside miniskirt-clad "guards" as music boomed.

Bravado aside, interest in the site was certainly high. Dotcom said half a million users registered for Mega in its first 14 hours.

U.S. authorities are trying to extradite the German-born Internet tycoon from New Zealand, where he is free on bail. Prosecutors say Dotcom made tens of millions of dollars while filmmakers and songwriters lost around $500 million in copyright revenue.

U.S. prosecutors declined to comment on the new site, referring only to a court document that cites several promises Dotcom made while seeking bail that he would not and could not start a Megaupload-style business until the criminal case was resolved.

"I can assure the Court that I have no intention and there is no risk of my reactivating the Megaupload.com website or establishing a similar Internet-based business during the period until the resolution of the extradition proceedings," Dotcom said in a Feb. 15, 2012, affidavit.

Dotcom argues that he can't be held responsible for copyright infringement committed by others and insists Megaupload complied with copyrights by removing links to pirated material when asked.

"Our company and assets were taken away from us without a hearing," Dotcom said. "The privacy of our users was intruded on, communications were taken offline and free speech was attacked. Let me be clear to those who use copyright law as a weapon to drown innovation and stifle competition: You will be left on the side of the road of history."

Mega, like Megaupload, allows users to store and share large files. It offers 50 gigabytes of free storage, much more than similar sites such as Dropbox and Google Drive, and features a drag-and-drop upload tool.

The key difference is an encryption and decryption feature for data transfers that Dotcom says will protect him from the legal drama that has entangled Megaupload and threatened to put him behind bars.

The decryption keys for uploaded files are held by the users, not Mega, which means the company can't see what's in the files being shared. Dotcom argues that Mega which bills itself as "the privacy company" therefore can't be held liable for content it cannot see.

"What he's trying to do is give himself a second-string argument: 'Even if I was wrong before, this one's all right because how can I control something if I don't know that it's there?'" said Sydney attorney Charles Alexander, who specializes in intellectual property law. "I can understand the argument; whether it would be successful or not is another matter."

To Dotcom, the concept is very simple.

"If someone sends something illegal in an envelope through your postal service," he says, "you don't shut down the post office."

The Motion Picture Association of America, which filed complaints about alleged copyright infringement by Megaupload, was not impressed.

"We are still reviewing how this new project will operate, but we do know that Kim Dotcom has built his career and his fortune on stealing creative works," the MPAA said in a statement. "We'll reserve final judgment until we have a chance to take a closer look, but given Kim Dotcom's history of damaging the consumer experience by pushing stolen, illegitimate content into the marketplace, count us as skeptical."

Still, as much as Dotcom's new venture might enrage prosecutors and entertainment executives, it shouldn't have any impact on the Megaupload case.

"All it might do is annoy them enough to say, 'We're going to redouble our efforts in prosecuting them'," said Alexander, the attorney. "But I don't think it makes any practical difference to the outcome."

Dotcom denied the new site was designed to provoke authorities, but got in plenty of digs at their expense, saying that their campaign to shutter Megaupload simply forced him to create a new and improved site.

"Sometimes good things come out of terrible events," Dotcom said. "For example, if it wasn't for a giant comet hitting earth, we would still be surrounded by angry dinosaurs hungry, too. If it wasn't for that iceberg, we wouldn't have a great Titanic movie which makes me cry every time I see it. And if it wasn't for the raid, we wouldn't have Mega."

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Associated Press writer Matthew Barakat contributed to this report from McLean, Virginia.

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FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Research in Motion will look into strategic alliances with other technology companies once it has launched its new BlackBerry 10 models, its chief executive told a German newspaper.

German-born CEO Thorsten Heins told daily Die Welt in an interview published on Monday that the group's strategic review could lead to the sale of RIM's hardware production or the sale of licenses to its software, among other options.

"The main thing for now is to successfully introduce Blackberry 10. Then we'll see," Heins was quoted as saying.

RIM hopes its re-engineered line of Blackberry 10 touch-screen and keyboard devices will win back market share lost to rivals such as Apple's iPhone and devices powered by Google's market-leading Android operating system.

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Mark Potter)

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PARK CITY, Utah (AP) Everyone's favorite Internet meme the cat video has hit the big time.

Behold the Catdance Film Festival, a one-night celebration of camera-worthy cats that was held Saturday at the Sundance Film Festival.

The five short films that were featured went beyond the typical surprised-kitty or cat-threatens-dog fare popular on YouTube. The Catdance films, culled from submissions by cat lovers across the country, told creative, feline-focused tales. There was the story of an aging Internet cat who can't cope with the loss of fame and "A Cat's Guide to Caring for a Human."

"Humans are inherently lazy," reported the latter film in a '50s-inspired instructional style. "Left to their own devices, they will sleep well past the break of dawn."

Other films included "Catalogue," where a couple orders a bedspread from a catalog and is surprised to see that the cat shown in the photo was shipped with the comforter. "Rocky" tells a heartfelt story of a man's 17-year relationship with his cat. In "A Change of Heart," a photo of a cat on a cellphone saves a failing relationship.

Each of the five finalists was awarded a golden cat-litter scoop.

Actress AnnaLynne McCord hosted the event, which was sponsored by the Fresh Step litter brand. The 25-year-old "90210" star is a lifelong cat lover who proudly displayed photos and videos of her cat, Christopher Buni, on her own cell Saturday.

"What's not to love about a cat?" she asked. "Cats have so much personality. They're very highly intelligent creatures, and if you're a highly intelligent creature, you respond to that."

McCord is known for taking her cat to work on set, and once dashed out of her house naked to chase away a coyote who was threatening her kitty companion.

The Catdance Film Festival was accompanied by a festive, feline-themed party on Park City's Main Street. Spoofs of famous movie posters dotted the walls, with cats replacing the stars of films such as "Top Gun," ''Pulp Fiction," ''The Big Lebowski" and "Clueless." Drinks such as the Feline Fresh and Kitten Kaboodle were served, along with tuna appetizers.

Catdance continues online: Fans can watch the feline films beginning Sunday and vote for their favorite until Feb. 28. The winning filmmaker will collect $10,000. Also available are limited-edition knit hats with cat ears, with all proceeds benefiting the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Cats have even clawed their way into the actual Sundance festival. They had their own official entry with the short film "Catnip: Egress to Oblivion?", director Jason Willis' spoof of educational movies exploring social ills. The seven-minute film, which ran in Sundance's midnight-movie program, has commentary from the "Catnip Crisis Center" and other supposed scientific groups about the effects and hazards felines face when partaking of catnip.

Willis called it "mostly a home movie about my cats" and said the film's entire budget came to $25 to buy catnip.

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AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is tweeting from Sundance at www.twitter.com/APSandy.

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AP Movie Writer David Germain contributed to this report.

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Supporters of Aaron Swartz, the 26-year-old Internet activist who committed suicide last week, gathered in New York to remember the computer prodigy on Saturday, with some calling for changes in the criminal justice system they blame for his death.

Swartz, who at 14 helped create an early version of the Web feed system RSS and believed the fruits of academic research and other information should be freely available to all, was found dead a week ago in his Brooklyn apartment.

The city's chief medical examiner ruled the death a suicide by hanging.

He had been facing trial on federal charges he used the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's computer networks to steal more than 4 million articles from JSTOR, an online archive and journal distribution service.

Swartz, who had also worked on the popular website Reddit, had faced a maximum sentence of 31 years in prison and fines of up to $1 million.

"He told me about the 4.5 million downloads of scholarly articles, and my first thought was why isn't MIT celebrating this?" Edward Tufte, an emeritus professor of computer science at Yale University and a friend of Swartz, said to applause from the crowd gathered in The Cooper Union's Great Hall in Manhattan.

Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman, Swartz's partner, criticized what she described as MIT's "indifference" to the saga, saying the school could have acted to end his prosecution.

The president of MIT said this week the school was investigating its role in Swartz's case. JSTOR has said in a statement it settled any dispute with Swartz in 2011 and praised his "important contributions to the development of the Internet."

CALL FOR CHANGE

At the memorial, attended by hundreds of friends and supporters, the strongest criticisms were reserved for prosecutors in the office of Carmen Ortiz, the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts.

Roy Singham, the chairman of ThoughtWorks, a software consultancy firm where Swartz worked, called the case against Swartz "an abuse of state power" intended to intimidate Swartz. He called for the reform of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act under which Swartz was prosecuted.

Swartz's partner said it all became too much for him to bear.

"He was so scared and so frustrated and more than anything so weary I just don't think he could take it another day," Stinebrickner-Kauffman said, adding the pair had discussed getting married after the trial.

Ortiz has defended her office's actions, saying prosecutors "took on the difficult task of enforcing a law they had taken an oath to uphold, and did so reasonably."

She said they offered Swartz a deal to plead guilty to multiple counts of wire fraud and computer fraud and spend six months at a low-security facility.

Swartz was remembered as a precocious talent who began addressing technology conferences as a teenager and whose quirks included being loath to wash his dishes and preferring bland foods like crackers and white rice.

Many speakers said he was by far the smartest and most intellectually curious person they had known, and called on those in attendance to continue his work of trying to widen the public's access to information and communication channels.

Stinebrickner-Kauffman said Swartz disliked grand ceremonies and would have been uncomfortable with some aspects of his own memorial.

"But memorial services are for the living," she said, repeating it several times like a mantra, "and last Friday he forfeited his right to decide that."

(Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Xavier Briand)

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WASHINGTON (AP) Latinos are taking a more prominent role in President Barack Obama's second inauguration, from the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice swearing in the vice president to a star-studded concert celebrating Latino culture.

Eva Longoria, a co-chairwoman for Obama's campaign, hosted "Latino Inaugural 2013: In Performance at the Kennedy Center" as a salute to the president Sunday evening ahead of his public swearing-in Monday. Jose Feliciano, Chita Rivera, Rita Moreno and Latin pop star Prince Royce all performed. The lineup also included Mario Lopez and Wilmer Valderrama.

Vice President Joe Biden and his family appeared onstage, drawing big cheers, to help open the show. He said he wanted to thank Latinos for their support in last year's election.

Biden said something profound happened with the enormous Latino support for Obama, and he said the Latino community underestimates its power.

"One thing that happened in this election, you spoke. You spoke in a way that the world, and I mean the world, as well as the United States, could not fail to hear," Biden said, calling the Latino vote decisive. "This is your moment. America owes you."

Feliciano opened the show by singing the national anthem.

Marc Anthony later drew big cheers when he applauded Latinos' growing political influence.

"Our united voice got us all here tonight and got the best man for the job in the White House," Anthony said.

San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, who gave the keynote speech at last year's Democratic National Convention, recalled the admiration Latinos held for another president more than 50 years ago. Portraits of President John F. Kennedy still hang in many homes, he said.

"As we said 'Viva Kennedy' 50 years ago, today we say 'Viva Obama,'" Castro said.

A children's choir from San Juan, Puerto Rico, closed out the show, singing "This Land is Your Land." They were joined by a larger Latino choir, including Hispanic members of the U.S. military, in singing "America the Beautiful."

Earlier Sunday, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, an Obama appointee who is the first Hispanic justice on the highest court, administered the oath of office to Biden. And Richard Blanco, a son of Cuban exiles, is Obama's inauguration poet.

Latinos have a distinct presence at this inauguration after raising funds and turning out the vote for Obama in the 2012 election. Hispanics voted 7 to 1 for Obama over his challenger, Republican Mitt Romney, whose Hispanic support was less than any other presidential candidate in 16 years. Analysts said Romney's hardline stance on immigration was a factor.

San Antonio philanthropist and business leader Henry Munoz III, who coordinated the Latino inauguration event with Longoria and other Obama supporters, said this is a special moment when the Latino community is positioned to take an expanded role in shaping the country's future.

"Without question, the presidential election of 2012 proves that Latinos are perhaps the most important influence from this point forward in the election of the president of the United States," Munoz said. "It's important that the leadership in Washington view us not as a narrow interest group but as a vibrant political force" that carries not just votes, but influence and financial resources.

Organizers planned a series of symposiums, dinners and events ahead of the inauguration to keep people talking about issues that matter to Latinos, from immigration reform to building a Latino history museum on the National Mall. Munoz led a presidential commission that called on Congress in 2011 to authorize such a museum within the Smithsonian Institution, but Congress has not yet passed such a bill.

Munoz said it's important to keep Latinos engaged through the inauguration and beyond.

"Our work is not done. It doesn't end," he said. "We have a tendency to look at this phenomenon as ending on Election Day, when the reality is now it's time to get to work."

Longoria said this is her first inauguration. She has taken on a new role as political advocate since her days on "Desperate Housewives," pushing for a Latino history museum in Washington and raising funds for Obama's re-election.

Even though this is Obama's second inauguration, Longoria said there is still much to celebrate, including Sotomayor's role swearing in the vice president.

"There's something special about seeing a president recommit himself to the people of this great nation," she said before the show.

Longoria said she hopes to help influence policies, including immigration reform, and hopes Obama will make that his top priority as an economic issue. She called the Latino fundraising effort for the president a historic turning point.

"I think we have a permanent seat at the table, and now we're going to be able to have influence on what affects our communities," Longoria said. "I take civic responsibility very seriously, and I want to do what I can to help my country."

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Follow Brett Zongker at https://twitter.com/DCArtBeat

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) A 15-year-old boy remained in custody Sunday night as detectives tried to piece together what led to the shooting of five people, including three young children, who were found dead in a New Mexico home.

The teenager was arrested on murder and other charges in connection with the shootings, which happened Saturday night at the home in a rural area southwest of downtown Albuquerque, said Lt. Sid Covington, a Bernalillo County sheriff's spokesman.

Detectives did not immediately release the victims' names, but word of the shootings traveled quickly through the law enforcement community, and officials began offering their condolences for Greg Griego, a spiritual leader known for his work with firefighters and the 13 years he spent as a volunteer chaplain at the county jail.

"Chaplin Griego was a dedicated professional that passionately served his fellow man and the firefighters of this community," Fire Chief James Breen said in a statement. "His calming spirit and gentle nature will be greatly missed."

Jail Chief Ramon Rustin said Griego was instrumental in the creation of the Metropolitan Detention Center's chaplain program and worked to get inmates integrated back into the community.

Griego also was a former member of the pastoral staff at Calvary, a Christian church in Albuquerque. As part of his work there, he oversaw the Straight Street program for jail inmates.

Covington said detectives were working to positively identify the five victims as well as the teenager's relationship to them.

"Right now we're to the meticulous points of processing the scene and collecting physical evidence, and this is a vast scene with a lot of physical evidence," Covington said.

Authorities said each victim suffered more than one gunshot wound, and several guns were found at the home, one of which was a semi-automatic military-style rifle. Investigators were trying to determine who owned the guns.

Authorities also declined to release details of any conversation that the 15-year-old had with investigators. The teenager was booked on two counts of murder and three counts of child abuse resulting in death.

On Sunday, a police roadblock cut off public access to the narrow dirt road that leads to the home, which is surrounded by trees and an agricultural field on one side.

Neighbors said they saw the first police cars and ambulances arrive at the home Saturday night. The road was blocked and word of the shootings began to make its way through the neighborhood.

Peter Gomez, a 54-year-old carpenter who lives about 200 yards from the home, said he had seen the family a husband and wife and their four children pass by many times but didn't know them personally.

"It's a horrible thing," Gomez said. "You see all this stuff that happens all over the country, the shootings in the schools and theaters, and then it happens right here. It's sad."

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Associated Press writer Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix contributed to this report.

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(Reuters) - Veteran journalist Barbara Walters was admitted to a Washington. D.C., hospital over the weekend after she fell and cut her head at the British ambassador's residence, a spokesman for the ABC television network said on Sunday.

Jeffrey Schneider, a senior vice president with ABC News, said Walters fell on the stairs on Saturday evening while attending an event.

"Out of an abundance of caution," Walters, 83, went to the hospital, where she remained for observation on Sunday, Schneider said.

"Barbara is alert (and telling everyone what to do), which we all take as a very positive sign," Schneider said in a written statement.

(Reporting by James B. Kelleher, editing by Stacey Joyce)

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NEW YORK (AP) Sniffling, groggy and afraid she had caught the flu, Diana Zavala dragged herself in to work anyway for a day she felt she couldn't afford to miss.

A school speech therapist who works as an independent contractor, she doesn't have paid sick days. So the mother of two reported to work and hoped for the best and was aching, shivering and coughing by the end of the day. She stayed home the next day, then loaded up on medicine and returned to work.

"It's a balancing act" between physical health and financial well-being, she said.

An unusually early and vigorous flu season is drawing attention to a cause that has scored victories but also hit roadblocks in recent years: mandatory paid sick leave for a third of civilian workers more than 40 million people who don't have it.

Supporters and opponents are particularly watching New York City, where lawmakers are weighing a sick leave proposal amid a competitive mayoral race.

Pointing to a flu outbreak that the governor has called a public health emergency, dozens of doctors, nurses, lawmakers and activists some in surgical masks rallied Friday on the City Hall steps to call for passage of the measure, which has awaited a City Council vote for nearly three years. Two likely mayoral contenders have also pressed the point.

The flu spike is making people more aware of the argument for sick pay, said Ellen Bravo, executive director of Family Values at Work, which promotes paid sick time initiatives around the country. "There's people who say, 'OK, I get it you don't want your server coughing on your food,'" she said.

Advocates have cast paid sick time as both a workforce issue akin to parental leave and "living wage" laws, and a public health priority.

But to some business owners, paid sick leave is an impractical and unfair burden for small operations. Critics also say the timing is bad, given the choppy economy and the hardships inflicted by Superstorm Sandy.

Michael Sinesky, an owner of seven bars and restaurants around the city, was against the sick time proposal before Sandy. And after the storm shut down four of his restaurants for days or weeks, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars that his insurers have yet to pay, "we're in survival mode."

"We're at the point, right now, where we cannot afford additional social initiatives," said Sinesky, whose roughly 500 employees switch shifts if they can't work, an arrangement that some restaurateurs say benefits workers because paid sick time wouldn't include tips.

Employees without sick days are more likely to go to work with a contagious illness, send an ill child to school or day care and use hospital emergency rooms for care, according to a 2010 survey by the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center. A 2011 study in the American Journal of Public Health estimated that a lack of sick time helped spread 5 million cases of flu-like illness during the 2009 swine flu outbreak.

To be sure, many employees entitled to sick time go to work ill anyway, out of dedication or at least a desire to project it. But the work-through-it ethic is shifting somewhat amid growing awareness about spreading sickness.

"Right now, where companies' incentives lie is butting right up against this concern over people coming into the workplace, infecting others and bringing productivity of a whole company down," said John A. Challenger, CEO of employer consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Paid sick day requirements are often popular in polls, but only four places have them: San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and the state of Connecticut. The specific provisions vary.

Milwaukee voters approved a sick time requirement in 2008, but the state Legislature passed a law blocking it. Philadelphia's mayor vetoed a sick leave measure in 2011; lawmakers have since instituted a sick time requirement for businesses with city contracts. Voters rejected a paid sick day measure in Denver in 2011.

In New York, City Councilwoman Gale Brewer's proposal would require up to five paid sick days a year at businesses with at least five employees. It wouldn't include independent contractors, such as Zavala, who supports the idea nonetheless.

The idea boasts such supporters as feminist Gloria Steinem and "Sex and the City" actress Cynthia Nixon, as well as a majority of City Council members and a coalition of unions, women's groups and public health advocates. But it also faces influential opponents, including business groups, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who has virtually complete control over what matters come to a vote.

Quinn, who is expected to run for mayor, said she considers paid sick leave a worthy goal but doesn't think it would be wise to implement it in a sluggish economy. Two of her likely opponents, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Comptroller John Liu, have reiterated calls for paid sick leave in light of the flu season.

While the debate plays out, Emilio Palaguachi is recovering from the flu and looking for a job. The father of four was abruptly fired without explanation earlier this month from his job at a deli after taking a day off to go to a doctor, he said. His former employer couldn't be reached by telephone.

"I needed work," Palaguachi said after Friday's City Hall rally, but "I needed to see the doctor because I'm sick."

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Associated Press writer Susan Haigh in Hartford, Conn., contributed to this report.

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Follow Jennifer Peltz at http://twitter.com/jennpeltz

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BANJUL (Reuters) - Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has decreed a four-day working week for public officials, making Friday a day of rest to allow residents in the small West African state more time for prayer and agriculture.

Jammeh said in statement the decision was made in light of demand from the general public. The shorter working week will take effect from February 1.

The new public sector working times in Gambia, a sliver of land stretching inland from the West African coast along the river Gambia, will be Mondays to Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

"This new arrangement will allow Gambians to devote more time to prayers, social activities and agriculture - going back to the land to grow what we eat and eat what we grow for a healthy and wealthy nation," the presidential statement said.

Though it has a secular state, Gambia's population is overwhelmingly Muslim. Jammeh seized power in the popular European tourist destination in a bloodless military coup in 1994.

He has since been accused by activists of human rights abuses during his rule. In August, his government drew international condemnation for executing nine death-row inmates by firing squad, prompting it to suspend 38 other planned executions.

The government warned, however, that the executions would go ahead if the crime rate increases.

One of Africa's more controversial rulers, Jammeh said in 2007 he had found a remedy of boiled herbs to cure AIDS, stirring anger among Western medical experts who claimed he was giving false hope to the sick.

(Reporting By Pap Saine; Writing by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Hans-Juergen Peters)

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WASHINGTON (AP) Just in time for inauguration coverage, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has joined CBS News as a contributor.

Rice, who served as secretary of state during President George W. Bush's second term, made her debut on "Face the Nation" Sunday and will be included in inauguration coverage on Monday.

CBS News Chairman Jeff Fager and president David Rhodes made the announcement Sunday, saying Rice "will use her insight and vast experience to explore issues facing America at home and abroad."

Rice was the first African-American woman to serve as secretary of state, following Colin Powell in the office. She was Bush's national security adviser during his first term and worked on the National Security Council under his father, President George H.W. Bush.

As secretary of state, Rice warned of weapons of mass destruction in pressing for war in Iraq that killed more than 4,400 Americans. No weapons of mass destruction were found.

More recently, Rice was part of the team offering Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney general strategy and advice on foreign policy.

Her primetime speech at the Republican National Convention in August received raves. She did not mention President Barack Obama by name, but spoke of the crisis in education and the need for immigration laws that protect the country's borders while meeting economic needs. She also said that although there was a sense that for far too long America has carried the burdens of supporting free people and free markets, but that if the United States does not lead no one will lead, fostering chaos.

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