Megaupload founder and Internet tycoon Kim Dotcom claimed via Twitter Wednesday that he invented Two Step Authentication, a method of online security that adds a layer of log-in protection, and called on major Internet players to respect his copyright.
Dotcom is currently home in New Zealand on bail as US
authorities pursue an extradition request in order to prosecute him
on charges related to copyright infringement. But the mogul, whose
birth name is Kim Schmitz, implied that he would take legal action
against the powerful social networks and banking sites that have
implemented Two Step Authentication if they refuse to contribute to
his defense fund.
The security feature springs into action when a user tries
logging into a service from a device foreign to their usual method
of access, at which point Two Step Authentication sends a one-time
log-in password to a predetermined proxy device, such as that
user’s cell phone.
Twitter is the most recent Internet behemoth to institute Two
Step Authentication after hackers victimized the Associated Press,
Financial Times, and other high profile news agencies.
WordPress, Facebook, Microsoft, and Google are just a few of the
major networks that employ the advanced but not foolproof log-in
method.
As proof of his ownership, Dotcom pointed his Twitter followers
to a patent, requested in 1998 and published in 2000, that lists
Kim Schmitz as the sole assignee. The document references 14
separate patents and itself has been referenced by 79 others,
including Sony, HP, and Research in Motion (the precursor to
Blackberry).
The US Department of Justice is seeking to prosecute Dotcom on
racketeering, fraud, money-laundering and copyright theft, charges
that could land him a 20-year prison sentence if he were convicted
in a US court. He has long denied the charges, citing an
overzealous legal effort that was later found to have employed
illegal surveillance methods.
This article originally appeared on : RT