U.S. Tells Court MegaUpload Users Are Out of Luck

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If you were using Megaupload to store anything, you could be SOL soon. *Warning!* Users may be exposed to the largest close-up photo of Kim Dotcom ever. Follow the link at your own risk. :eek:

Neil MacBride, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, the man who has accused MegaUpload and founder Kim DotCom of criminal copyright violations, asked a federal court in documents filed last night to deny a request for a protective order filed by Carpathia Hosting, which houses MegaUpload's user data.
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from article said:
MacBride told the court that the government relinquished any claim to MegaUpload's data in January and that Carpathia, on it's own, decided to maintain the information at its own expense. MacBride suggested that Carpathia did that because of possible civil lawsuits it could face, if managers deleted the information. MacBride not only was dismissive of Carpathia's claims about the financial burden associated with maintaining the data, but he reminded the court that it is overseeing a criminal matter and not a civil case.
MacBride seems to suggest that Carpathia should be allowed to delete the data, if it wishes. MacBride's office declined to comment beyond the court filing.
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Wow, holy shit. Is this even legal for the US Attorney to suggest that evidence can be destroyed and Carpathia is out of luck for occurring the cost of keeping the data? If Carpathia Hosting deleted the data you can bet your ass the US Attorney would come down on him like the wrath of God!
 
It's going to be fascinating to see how well early 20th century laws work when applied to a 21st century case. :)
 
When I saw the picture in the back of my head I heard Cartman yelling "beefcake, beefcake!"
 
Azhar said:
Wow, holy shit. Is this even legal for the US Attorney to suggest that evidence can be destroyed and Carpathia is out of luck for occurring the cost of keeping the data? If Carpathia Hosting deleted the data you can bet your ass the US Attorney would come down on him like the wrath of God!
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The problem is the US Attorney told everyone months ago that they did not need these providers to hold onto the data any longer as they had what they needed for their case, there was even a story on this very site about it, so I'm not sure why this company is suddenly surprised.

Simply put the host was holding the data no due to a court order or at the request of the US attorney but simply to avoid the possibility of being taken to civil court by megaupload users for deleting the data, so why exactly should the government pay them to hold onto the data?

As the article points out MU TOS, which users agreed to states that any duty to preserve the data ends whenever MU wants or when they cease operation and like it or not I think it's fair to say that MU has ceased operation.
 
If it is stipulated in the TOS that the service could disappear at any time without notice, then I'm not sure why the users would be upset. Well, except the dumbass ones.
But I agree, this is going to be a really interesting case in court.
 
How can someone be that rich (Gabe Newell, etc) and let themselves be that obese?
 
Melon said:
How can someone be that rich (Gabe Newell, etc) and let themselves be that obese?
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What does one have to do at all with the other?

In fact, it would stand to reason that if you could afford to have more things done for you, you'd be even more likely to be obese.
 
On-topic, you'd have to be an idiot to only keep one copy of something on a site like MegaUpload.
 
VRMan said:
If it is stipulated in the TOS that the service could disappear at any time without notice, then I'm not sure why the users would be upset. Well, except the dumbass ones.
But I agree, this is going to be a really interesting case in court.
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You obviously don't get out much, users will be upset because a large percentage of the population seem to feel that they just the act of their wanting something entitles them to it.
 
DarkStar_WNY said:
The problem is the US Attorney told everyone months ago that they did not need these providers to hold onto the data any longer as they had what they needed for their case, there was even a story on this very site about it, so I'm not sure why this company is suddenly surprised.

Simply put the host was holding the data no due to a court order or at the request of the US attorney but simply to avoid the possibility of being taken to civil court by megaupload users for deleting the data, so why exactly should the government pay them to hold onto the data?
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So, if a defendant destroys evidence that's a crime, but it's ok for the prosecutor to outright tell somebody to destroy evidence that the defendant is saying will help prove their innocence? Whoever started the court case against Megaupload needs to foot the bill to preserve all the evidence (either way - guilt or innocence) until guilt is proven - at which point they can shift the bill to Megaupload if they're found guilty.
 
MavericK96 said:
What does one have to do at all with the other?

In fact, it would stand to reason that if you could afford to have more things done for you, you'd be even more likely to be obese.
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He's probably referring to high end personal trainers that babysit you for months and crack the whip to keep you on-point. Someone knowledgeable to push them and keep them going is all most people are lacking when it comes to personal fitness, but most of us can't afford that kind of thing.
 
NKDietrich said:
He's probably referring to high end personal trainers that babysit you for months and crack the whip to keep you on-point. Someone knowledgeable to push them and keep them going is all most people are lacking when it comes to personal fitness, but most of us can't afford that kind of thing.
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Why spend money on personal trainers when you can spend money on more food? :D

(I get your point, though.)
 
My first thought was how much is MacBride receiving from the MPAA and RIAA?
 
Azhar said:
Wow, holy shit. Is this even legal for the US Attorney to suggest that evidence can be destroyed and Carpathia is out of luck for occurring the cost of keeping the data? If Carpathia Hosting deleted the data you can bet your ass the US Attorney would come down on him like the wrath of God!
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Should fall under eminent domain.
 
Ualdayan said:
So, if a defendant destroys evidence that's a crime, but it's ok for the prosecutor to outright tell somebody to destroy evidence that the defendant is saying will help prove their innocence? Whoever started the court case against Megaupload needs to foot the bill to preserve all the evidence (either way - guilt or innocence) until guilt is proven - at which point they can shift the bill to Megaupload if they're found guilty.
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So, following that logic if the police raid your apartment and sieze illegal items they need to pay to preserve the apartment and everything in it until your trail and that includes paying for the rent and utilities.

Let's get real, they collected the evidence they need, and I'm sure the defense has as well and since these are simply storage systems, and not MU business systems, once the evidence is collected they become worthless to both parties in the case.
 
So the government is willfully harming one business in order to sate the blood lust of another. This is out of control.

It's as if there is no business more important to protect than imaginary property. Businesses that provide real services to society like file hosting are forced into bankruptcy by businesses that produce nothing for society. The RIAA and MPAA are nothing but leeches on the public.
 
Without getting into the politics to any great extent, I have one question for those worried about their data on Mega Upload: Why would you store your only copy there?! I'm sorry, but if you lose your files then it's your own damn fault. That's what backups are for.
 
fattypants said:
So the government is willfully harming one business in order to sate the blood lust of another. This is out of control.

It's as if there is no business more important to protect than imaginary property. Businesses that provide real services to society like file hosting are forced into bankruptcy by businesses that produce nothing for society. The RIAA and MPAA are nothing but leeches on the public.
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It's the ultimate perversion of property rights: The only property rights that count to the US government are the intellectual monopolies that have nothing to do with actual physical property ownership. Everything else is apparently forfeit. It's not even about campaign money corrupting Congress either: The State department and executive branches are working full-throttle on behalf of the copyright industry, to the point of putting pressure on almost every foreign government in the world to come into compliance with their demands.
 
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