[LINK] Megaupload data may go bye-bye

[TKoltai]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: link-bounces at mailman.anu.edu.au 
> [mailto:link-bounces at mailman.anu.edu.au] On Behalf Of Jan Whitaker
> Sent: Friday, 3 February 2012 10:48 AM
> To: link at mailman.anu.edu.au
> Subject: Re: [LINK] Megaupload data may go bye-bye
> 
> 
> At 10:40 PM 30/01/2012, Jan Whitaker wrote:
> >http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/29/megaupload-user-data
> _n_1240729
> >.html
> >Megaupload User Data May Be Gone By Thursday, Feds Say
> >
> >By JOSHUA FREED 01/29/12 10:07 PM ET
> 
> Update - EFF asking to have the data protected 
> and accessible if not copyright infringing:
> 
> Group seeks to save data on Megaupload servers
> Jeremy Pelofsky
> February 3, 2012 - 9:39AM
> 
> 
> WASHINGTON - The Electronic Frontier Foundation 
> has asked federal prosecutors and lawyers for the 
> Megaupload.com file-sharing service to allow 
> users who uploaded material to retrieve it as 
> long as it was not copyrighted material.
> 
> The group, which advocates for internet privacy 
> and digital rights, sent a letter on Thursday on 
> behalf of one user asking "that all concerned 
> work together to make sure innocent users are returned their 
> legal property".
> 
> "We are hopeful that our client and other third 
> parties can obtain access to their material 
> without resorting to legal action, but if that is 
> not the case, we intend to take the necessary 
> steps to ensure the return of their materials," 
> said Cindy Cohn, legal director and general counsel for EFF.
> Advertisement: Story continues below
> 
> A copy of the letter was sent to the judge in 
> Virginia overseeing the case, US District Judge Liam O'Grady.
> 
> Megaupload and its senior executives were 
> indicted last month on charges that it was 
> peddling copyrighted music, movies and television 
> shows, raking in millions of dollars from advertising and 
> subscriber fees.
> 
> Prosecutors warned last week that one of the 
> companies that hosted the Megaupload site and 
> material was considering erasing the material 
> this week, but the company has since decided against it for now.
> 
> "Carpathia Hosting has no immediate plans to 
> reprovision some or all of the Megaupload 
> servers," the company's chief marketing officer, 
> Brian Winter, said in a statement on Wednesday. 
> He said if that changes, the company will post 
> notices on its websites, carpathia.com and megaretrieval.com. 
> [snip - more at the link: 
> http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/group-seek
s-to-save-data-on-megaupload-servers-20120203-1qw9c.html 
]

One user letter is how it starts.

But what will the outcome be if Lawrence Lessig and his class of 2012
back the EFF action; and worse, if they instigate a class action on
behalf of all of Megauploads genuine non-infringing users.

So now we will see the real cost of such police actions. The "Megaupload
Scandal" as it will be referred to in the future will cost the American
taxpayers about a buck each. Which is my estimate of the cost of
sifting, sorting and returning the genuine users non-infringing data.

Future infringement police actions will doubtless come with an order for
costs against the civil prosecuting party indemnifying Government
agencies against potential civil counter suits.

Of course, the Government may come to it's senses, and through the
Supreme Court, instruct the content companies and Government agencies to
restore the services but appoint a chapter 12 liquidator to clean up the
political minefield mess created by men with very large D....

TomK