• Full Story

Judge orders talks over Megaupload data

Email
Print

Judge orders talks over Megaupload data

3News NZ

The case against Kim Dotcom and MegaUpload has so far cost New Zealand taxpayers more than $1m

The case against Kim Dotcom and MegaUpload has so far cost New Zealand taxpayers more than $1m

A US judge has ordered a company to preserve data on the servers of file-sharing website Megaupload while negotiations continue over who should pay to keep it accessible.

At a hearing in Alexandria, Virginia, District Judge Liam O'Grady deferred a decision on the fate of millions of gigabytes of data uploaded to the servers by up to 60 million Megaupload users.

The files have been inaccessible since the website was taken offline in January.

Server company Carpathia Hosting says it is costing $US37,000 ($NZ44,900) per month to keep the data and it can't continue paying, DPA reports.

It had agreed to sell the servers to Megaupload for $US1.2 million.

Lawyers for Megaupload say the data is necessary as part of their defence.

But the sale was rejected by lawyers for the US Department of Justice and the Motion Picture Association of America.

"It's like trusting the thief with the money," prosecutor Jay Prabhu told the court.

Mr Prabhu said the Government was not seeking the data's erasure but it was also not the Government's responsibility to maintain the files, the Associated Press reports.

The Motion Picture Association says the files include the largest-ever collection of copyright-infringing material.

Other parties in the case include an Ohio man who says he used the website for legitimate purposes, and was seeking access to his data, Bloomberg reports.

Julie Samuels, an attorney for internet civil liberties group Electronic Frontier Foundation, argued that the Government should establish a system so the website's users can file claims to their data.

Judge O'Grady deferred his decision for two weeks to allow the parties to meet and reach an agreement on who will take responsibility for the servers.

Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom and three others are on bail in New Zealand awaiting a hearing - planned for August - to extradite them to the US, where they face charges of copyright infringement, money laundering and racketeering in relation to the popular file-sharing website.

The group were arrested in January following a raid on Dotcom's Coatesville mansion, with the case so far costing New Zealand taxpayers more than $1m.

NZN

Post a Comment

Before commenting, please take the time to read our moderation guide


(Won't be published)



Comments

15/04/2012 2:40:49 a.m.

Sillypuddy wrote:

@johngaltfree - Stop spamming the internet with advertisements for your file sharing site disguised as comments, at least get creative and stop cutting and pasting the same BS text. 9th place I've seen that comment today.

14/04/2012 11:17:41 p.m.

Chargone wrote:

also worth noting (and i point this out every time it comes up) that the supposed evidence for the 'money laundering' charge is that they Payed Their Bills to Carpathia Hosting. and that's only the most Obviously ridiculous thing going on here.

14/04/2012 7:23:42 p.m.

brian wrote:

The litmus test is the need to PROVE ANY LOSS incurred. It's all very well to "SAY" that "THEY" - whoever "they" are - may have lost, even if it's diddly squat. BUT UNTIL "THEY" PROVE IT, it's all conjecture, and worthless in any responsible Court of Law. Popularity is only generated by the saturation of the market place, and from my evaluation this has been achieved by "file sharing" and the then generated demand for the real thing.

14/04/2012 4:28:25 p.m.

john key wrote:

Innocent until proven guilty...yeah right.

14/04/2012 3:47:31 p.m.

johngaltfree wrote:

MegaUpload backup servers data was partially salvaged. I joined Thaddle and had some of my files recovered, but not all. They do have a similar unlimited locker and rewards program, the twist is they are offshore. And they are a full social Network, not just a file sharing service.I am told that some of the MU personnel are with Thaddle social network now.

14/04/2012 3:29:35 p.m.

Nathaniel wrote:

Actually David, you can make a single backup of a disk that you own, but then the original has to be kept in storage and not used by anyone else while you are using that backup.

14/04/2012 2:27:01 p.m.

Jim Seaview wrote:

Quote: "Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom and three others are on bail in New Zealand awaiting a hearing - planned for August - to extradite them to the US, where they face charges of copyright infringement, money laundering and racketeering in relation to the popular file-sharing website.The group were arrested in January following a raid on Dotcom's Coatesville mansion, with the case so far costing New Zealand taxpayers more than $1m."


To arrest Mr Dotcom has cost the hardworking taxpayer of NZ over $1 million dollars for alleged copyright infringement by the CIA and FBI?????????????

Over $1 million dollars?
I am not surprised as it only took 76 Police Officers to arrest Mr Dotcom. With those nunbers which included the Elite Special Tactics group, Helicopters and the Armed Offenders squad you would have thought this person must have been responsible for the most horrendous crime against humanity for special strategic and tactical planning by Police HQ.

You have to ask why the NZ Police Head office have to be the willing, no expenses spared lapdog of the USA???
I respect the work that the frontline police do in NZ.

14/04/2012 2:24:30 p.m.

Erm... wrote:

Anyone know if bands and movie makers have been selling a lot more since Megaupload was taken off-air? No, didn't think so...

14/04/2012 12:21:28 p.m.

David wrote:

You have to wonder who exactly the thieves are here... you buy a DVD or CD these days and apparently you just dont own the rights to it anymore even though you have paid for it... you cant back it up to preserve the original... this in itself is just greed on the MPA and the music industry as it forces consumers to repeatedly purchase the same soundtrack or movie as it ages. No point in actually buying something if you dont own the complete rights to it.. the recording industry and other companies like Microsoft have completely shafted users when it comes to ownership rights... but what else do you expect from monopoly interests like those... they control government and the justice system instead of being answerable to it for their exhorbitant costs.