MegaUpload was among the largest file hosting sites until the US government focused its targeting lasers on the company. American plods took control of domains, had the owners arrested and seized hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and assets.

Founder Kim Dotcom (born Kim Schmitz) is a New Zealand citizen and has been embroiled in a convoluted legal tug of war as US authorities attempt to have him extradited to stand trial for copyright infringement.

Earlier in the year he was allowed out on bail (they were worried he would try to escape in the helicopter parked at his house), had some assets including money and cars returned, and now a judge has confirmed that Dotcom must be given back hard drives taken from his home in order to prepare a legal defense, a request that has previously been ignored.

While the FBI was confident enough to get NZ police to raid his rented mansion and freeze his bank accounts it was later revealed that they had no authority to do so having failed to submit the necessary paperwork, and there is no small amount of skepticism about the success of a court case. Copyright infringement is a civil offence typically resulting in a financial penalty. Even US district judge Liam O'Grady said he didn't know if "we are ever going to have a trial in this matter".

At its peak MegaUpload accounted for 4% of all internet traffic. It hosted billions of files and was accompanied by several sister sites dedicated to images and video. Following the takedown other file hosting services began restricting access to shared files, or simply closed up shop entirely.

Files kept on MegaUpload are currently inaccessible regardless of their legitimacy, which demonstrates why you should always have a local backup and not rely solely on the cloud.  

In the run up to the release of what is - iPhone 5 pending - the hottest handset of the year retailers and networks claim to have seen more pre-orders for the S3 than any other Android hardware to date. However celebrations at Samsung may have been short lived as the gadget has already run into problems thanks to an embarrassing manufacturing error.

The Pebble Blue model of the Galaxy S3 will not be available for several weeks yet as, according to The Register, Samsung delivered CAD files with incorrect dimensions to the factory resulting in the company spending millions on casings in the the wrong size. Someone must be feeling sheepish right about now.

Customers in the UK have been contacted by retailers advising of the delay. Those who pre-ordered the white S3 should still be receiving their handset shortly and you’ll have a chance to pick one up in stores when it goes on general sale tomorrow, but it’s going to be at least 2-3 weeks before the blue is available and given the high demand it may not be possible to just walk into a shop and purchase one over the counter until the end of June.

The Galaxy S3 boasts an impressive specification. The Euro model is powered by a quad core Exynos CPU with 1GB RAM, its 4.8-inch Super AMOLED screen has a resolution of 720 x 1280 and there are 16, 32 and 64GB memory options. See our first look preview for more.

The initial white and Pebble Blue colour options are expected to be joined by other designs later in the year. Having seen both we’d say Pebble Blue is definitely the preferable option as it helps offset the cheap feel of the controversial plastic shell, so if you’re not really desperate it’s worth holding out a little while longer. 

According to sources speaking to the New York Times Facebook has been quietly nabbing hardware and software engineers with experience in mobile technology including, it's said, many former Apple employees that worked on the iPhone and iPad.

Despite its success on the full-fat web Facebook has had a slightly trickier time with mobiles. Although its apps are a ubiquitous feature on any modern smartphone this hasn’t led to huge financial success. No doubt Zuckerberg is eyeing the success of iOS and Android with some jealousy. Apple exercises complete control over hardware and software while Google has a smartphone operating system that is a pocket-size ad revenue milking machine - the recent Oracle legal spat revealed it was forecasting $1 billion profits from mobile ads in 2012.

The NYT gossipers claim Facebook already had a crack at creating a smartphone but discovered that building hardware is actually pretty tough. It did team up with HTC to release the ChaCha and Salsa last year but these were just Android phones with a few Facebook-flavoured bells and whistles. Poaching experienced engineers suggests far more ambitious plans.

Having raised $16 billion in its troubled IPO Facebook certainly has the financial clout to enter this increasingly crowded market, and it opens up the possibility of either working from scratch on an entirely new device or purchasing an existing player. While a fresh approach would afford Apple-esque levels of control freakery, buying a current platform would make it easier to hit the (alleged) release target of 2013. 

This price increase will affect anyone with a Three contract taken out before 8 March 2012. Pay-as-you-go, 1 month SIM only and business customers are not included. If you’re an applicable Three subscriber expect to receive a text, email or letter very soon.

Three is upping costs by 3.7% in line with the Retail Price Index (RPI) as of 17 April. While it will increase the charge on your monthly package this does exclude add-ons.

Under Ofcom rules operators must give 30 days notice of price changes and allow customers to cancel, however the terms of a Three contract (and indeed every other major operator) also allow the company to raise prices once every 12 months up to the current rate of inflation.

This means that even if you’re unhappy with the increased cost you won’t be able to use it as a way of ending the contract early without penalty. It may be possible to claim that the higher price is of “material detriment” and will have a negative impact on your life but you’ll have to be able to show that a 3.7% increase means you can’t afford to eat, for example.

As Three is operating within the rules complaining is unlikely to have much effect. Orange was criticised last year not allowing customers to leave without penalty following a price increase which was just below the rate of inflation. The cost of a T-mobile package also went up by 3.7% last month without much fanfare.

If you’re coming to the end of a phone or mobile broadband contract with Three now might be an excellent time to look for a new deal. Check out our smartphone and MBB comparison pages for the latest and greatest offers. 

Axis promises a new way to search the web by presenting results as a stream of thumbnails, rather than a list of links, through which you can swipe or click. The tool is available as either a plugin for desktop browsers such as Firefox and Chrome or as a standalone browser app for iPhone and iPad.

Images are a little low res when it’s used on a desktop computer and it’s difficult to imagine many giving up the convenience of navigation bar searches, but Axis does work extremely well on iPad where the thumbnails are easier to browse and select than a text link.

Unusually Axis currently lacks advertisements, and indeed Yahoo! has pushed it on the basis of going straight from search to page, which seems like an odd move for a company which makes a very large amount of money from online ads.

Back in the 90s Yahoo! was the name in internet search, famed for its web portal and numerous services including the very popular Yahoo! Mail, but over the last decade its fortunes waivered as a little outfit called Google become synonymous with search and online advertising.

In two years Yahoo! has had three different CEOs and just last month the company laid off 2,000 workers. Many of its former executives must be kicking themselves for not accepting Microsoft’s $44 billion offer in 2008.

Speaking of which, Microsoft - another one that has had some trouble in online search - announced this week it is opening up the snappily-named  So.cl to the public. It was previously restricted to students in the US.

So.cl is a social networking tool which encourages users to create collages of content (via Bing search results of course) and share them with friends, allowing you to join with others of similar interests and start a “video party”.

While it sounds like the love child of Google+ and Pinterest Microsoft is keen to stress that So.cl is not a standalone social network itself but an experimental layer which integrates with other services, so you are able to log in with a Facebook account for instance. This could be a smarter route than Google’s bold attempt at tackling Facebook head on and by encouraging the use of Bing might also help Microsoft gain some leverage in the search market.

Bemilo is a MVNO - mobile virtual network operator - using Vodafone to provide its service and boasts of being the ‘safest mobile network’. Its unique selling point is parental control, offering extensive capabilities to monitor and manage a child’s mobile phone usage.

With Bemilo parents can restrict who the child contacts, or who contacts them, control spending and even say when they are able to use the phone and access the internet. 

Most controversially, Bemilo logs text messages and calls, making the info available to parents.

These functions come at a monthly cost of £3.95, or £34.95 for a year. Top-ups are extra but it’s a barebones service with no free data, text or call packages. Instead you’ll pay 10p/pm for voice, 10p per text and 25p/Mb for data. This could quickly become expensive so the price cap controls are going to be essential, though it’d fit the bill if you only want your child to have a phone so they can call home.

There are already software solutions for Android, iPhone and other platforms which do the same thing as Bemilo however as this is part of the network it's not dependant on a particular operating system, though as Bemilo can't intercept online communications it won't be much help if a child is using instant messaging or social networks, besides locking down net access entirely.

Given recent concerns over bullying using text messaging and Facebook it’s not hard to see this becoming relatively popular, especially as many parents may find themselves left behind by tech-savvy youngsters. 

Players found that accounts became inaccessible, many being booted offline with a message telling them that someone else had logged in. Afterwards they discovered that they’d been cleaned out as gold, weapons and other items acquired in-game were transferred to other characters.

Blizzard has rolled back some affected accounts but its forums are filling with complaints from people who have been denied account restoration, as well as those who claim to have suffered an attack despite using Blizzard’s own authenticator. The authenticator comes in the form of a hardware dongle or free smartphone app and supposedly offers far greater security but if these reports are true it appears to offer little or no protection against the exploits.

Action RPG Diablo 3 was created by Blizzard, the company responsible for smash-hit MMO World of Warcraft. The previous title in the series was released in 2000 so gamers have waited a long time for this latest installment, but the game has been dogged by controversy since it was announced.

Blizzard has been widely criticised for forcing users to remain online and connected to their servers. “Always-on” DRM which requires an internet connection is not new but Diablo 3 is the most extreme example yet. Vital game assets are stored on Blizzard's Battle.net servers making it completely impossible to play without an internet connection. While this has - so far - prevented piracy it’s also inconveniencing legit users.

As well as suffering lag and losing progress when a connection is lost gamers have been prevented from logging on due to the servers being filled to capacity. Following the hacking incidents the servers were offline for four hours this Sunday.

If you suspect your Diablo 3 account has been compromised you should contact Blizzard support. Blizzard also recommends making use of its authenticator service, while players have been advising that you only use the online co-op mode with friends rather than public grouping with strangers.

Home broadband site ISP Review surveyed its visitors to gauge their thoughts on the scheme, proposed by MP Claire Perry following the recent parliamentary enquiry into online child protection.

The survey also found that more than half of the respondents thought internet service providers (ISPs) were already doing enough to protect children, with just 23 per cent saying they weren’t (the rest being unsure).

However it could be argued that visitors to a website such as ISP Review aren’t exactly a proportionate sample of internet users; it’s a techy help site focused purely on home broadband. This makes the result interesting; almost one in four voters still thought ISPs aren’t doing enough to protect children, despite them really upping their games over the last few years.

Unfortunately, as is always the case with governments, a knee-jerk reaction to any issue is to be expected. How much we need a nanny state, versus how much responsibility should fall to parents, will always be a hot topic of discussion with strong views on either side. But it’s always easy to work around these kinds of enforced restrictions anyway, so where we are right now would seem a sensible place to draw the line.

But ultimately we tend to agree with ISP Review founder Mark Jackson, who said: "It's encouraging to see ISPs offer customers more options to filter out adult content and we'd like to see that continue. But at the same time we should be careful not to impose mandatory opt-in internet filters, which risk lulling parents into a false sense of security and encouraging state sponsored censorship through mission creep."

Previously, police forces have had neither the skills nor equipment to examine a phone without sending it off for specialist forensic analysis, an expensive and time consuming task. But using the solution supplied by a firm called Radio Tactics officers will now be able to copy mobile phone data - including photos, texts and call records - at the station.

The tech will initially be made available in 16 London boroughs, but could go national if the trial is successful. While this is no doubt going to save money and potentially aid investigations, it is worrying that the information acquired can be kept regardless of the outcome of a case.

Speaking to the BBC a Met spokesman said "data received from the handsets is retained and handled in accordance with other data held by the MPS [Metropolitan Police Service]" - regardless of whether charges had been brought.”

While the Met was keen to stress that this could only happen if there is “sufficient suspicion” of the mobile phone being used in a crime, going by past experiences it’s not hard to imagine officers justifying it in almost any situation.

Police in the UK have been criticised for stop and search tactics which, having apparently learnt little from the Brixton and London riots, show black people being 30 times more likely to be stopped. Copying their mobile phone memory is not going to make bobbies any more popular.

As the Beeb points out this has some similarities to the DNA profile scandal in which forces refused to destroy the DNA samples of people who were never charged with any crime until ordered by the EU. The contents of your mobile phone are arguably even more personal and certainly far more open to abuse.

As the old adage goes, information is power, and all over the world authorities are gathering more of our data in an effort to exert control. As reported recently our own government is working on an intrusive surveillance program, while countries such as China routinely record every bit which passes through their borders making international travel a security nightmare. 

Popular Android handsets such as the HTC One X and One S, and the forthcoming Samsung Galaxy S3, feature screens which are well over 4 inches (4.8 in the case of the Galaxy S3) so this is seen as a necessary step in order for Apple to stay competitive in an increasingly cutthroat market.

According to sources speaking to the Wall Street Journal and Reuters, Apple has begun placing orders for a larger display to use in the next iPhone, with the work going to LG, Sharp and Japan Display Inc. The screens are expected to go into production next month, putting Apple on course for an October launch of the iPhone 5. The iPhone 4S was announced and launched in October 2011.

The WSJ reckons the screen is “at least 4 inches diagonally” but Reuters says it is exactly 4-inches, which is in line with previous rumours and seems the most likely option.

A 4-inch screen would allow the iPhone to stand up against the latest Android superphones but still retain a slim profile, particularly if any of the concept designs floating around the web right now turn out to be close to the truth. The above image was created by Jon Fawcett of [Fuse]chicken and imagines an iPhone 5 with 4-inch display and LiquidMetal casing.

Reuters also noted that a previous tip suggested the iPhone 5 would use a Retina display, a term Apple uses to indicate high resolution displays with a very high number of pixels per inch (ppi). This would not be a surprise, but given that the latest Android smartphones are boasting 720p screens it is likely Apple will at the very least match that resolution, if not leapfrog it entirely as it did with the iPad 3’s immense 2048 x 1536 screen. 

ISPs which have signed up to the code agree to give potential customers a speed range estimate “as early as practicable in the sales process”. Ofcom regularly carries out mystery shopper checks to ensure adherence to the code, and the latest results have just been published.

They reveal that while there is some improvement a significant number of customers are still not being given details of potential speeds without first prompting the telephone advisers. Ofcom’s figures show that a speed estimate was provided without prompting in 59% of all the calls, with the best performance from Karoo and Sky, which achieved 76% and 72% respectively.

The worst figures came from BT and TalkTalk at 48% and 47%. According to Ofcom “both BT and TalkTalk have agreed to address this issue by amending their staff training and sales processes.”

In related news, the ASA has today banned TalkTalk from using the speed checker tool on its web site after claims it was overestimating download rates. The ruling came after a customer complained that the speed check gave an estimate of 2.1 - 5.3Mb, despite having already been told by TalkTalk that he could not get more than 2.1Mb. The ASA said TalkTalk had not make it clear enough that customers could receive lower speeds.

It’s worth noting that the Ofcom code states if you do find your connection is much slower than estimated by the provider and they are unable to resolve the problem, they must allow you to cancel your broadband service within 3 months of signing up without charging any penalty. For a list of ISPs which have agreed to the broadband code head over to Ofcom.  

The HTC Desire C is an entry level model which comes in at an attractive price point but still manages to offer premium features.

With Android 4.0 installed the Desire C is one of the cheapest Ice Cream Sandwich Android phones available, a major advantage when other budget handsets are still using much older versions. The Desire C also gets HTC’s excellent Sense 4.0 interface.

Considering the price HTC hasn’t skimped too much on specification or build quality. The attractive shell is made from metal and comes in black, white or red livery. It’s equipped with a 3.5-inch capacitive touch screen and, like the HTC Explorer, is powered by a 600MHz CPU with 512MB RAM.

Internal storage is a relatively generous 4GB, plus expandable microSD memory. The 5-megapixel camera is reasonable at this price point, and the phone supports 7.2Mb mobile broadband, Bluetooth 4.0 and the usual Wi-Fi and USB connectivity.

On T-mobile the Desire C will sell for £169.99 (plus £10 top up) on pay as you go, or can be had on contract starting at £15.50 a month. It’s due to go on sale early next month.