Megaupload Data Safe for Another Two Weeks

The data on Megaupload will not be erased for at least two more weeks, Cnet reports citing Megaupload lawyer Ira Rothken.
The data on the file hosting service, whose founders have been accused of piracy and money laundering, was in danger to be erased as soon as Thursday, Feb. 2, as the site’s assets were frozen and it was unable to pay its hosting fees.
“The hosting companies have been gracious enough to provide additional time so we can work out some kind of arrangement with the government,” said Rothken.
The authorities have made backups of some of the data, which is to be used as evidence, but not all of it. The deletion of all the data on Megaupload would harm users which used the service for perfectly legal purposes.
One of the hosting companies which stores some of the Megaupload data, Carpathia hosting, told us they simply cannot return users their data. “Carpathia Hosting does not have, and has never had, access to the content on MegaUpload servers and has no mechanism for returning any content residing on such servers to MegaUpload’s customers.(…) We would recommend that anyone who believes that they have content on MegaUpload servers contact MegaUpload. Please do not contact Carpathia Hosting,” said Carpathia in a statement.
Hopefully, the authorities and Megaupload will find a solution to give the users a way to retrieve their data before it’s erased.
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom (a.k.a. Kim Schmitz) and six others who ran the site were indicted by The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in January. They are accused of making $175 and causing $500 million in copyright infringement; if they’re found guilty, they’re looking at a maximum 20 years prison sentence.

Megaupload Data Could Be Erased This Week

All the data on Megaupload – legal or illegal – could be erased as soon as Thursday, Feb. 2, the Associated Press reports.
The file storage website hires outside companies – Carpathia Hosting Inc. and Cogent Communications Group Inc – to store its users’ data.
Since Megaupload’s assets have been frozen, the service cannot pay the hosting companies to keep hosting the data. According to a letter by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, filed in the case Friday, Jan 27, they could begin deleting data Thursday.
Megaupload attorney Ira Rothken says the company is doing what it can to try to keep the data from being deleted. “We’re cautiously optimistic at this point that because the United States, as well as Megaupload, should have a common desire to protect consumers, that this type of agreement will get done,” he said.
If the data is indeed erased, it will be very bad news for some 50 million people who’ve used Megaupload’s services, many of them legally.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted seven people and two companies which ran Megaupload earlier in January. The site’s founder Kim Dotcom (a.k.a. Kim Schmitz) and six others are accused of making $175 and causing $500 million in copyright infringement.
If they’re found guilty in what the indictment calls a “Mega Conspiracy”, the accused could go to prison for a maximum of 20 years.