While the MPAA has given their limited support for any plans to allow users who used Megaupload legitimately to get access to their files again, the US government appears to have nixed any such plans. Instead, they say that affected users should sue Megaupload and/or their web host, Carpathia, for damages.
Responding to a lawsuit filed by Kyle Goodwin, a sports reporter who lost work related files when Megaupload was shuttered by the government back in January, the government now says that Megupload's server files are no longer in their possession, and that Mr. Goodwin has not suffered "irreparable harm" even if Carpathia wipes the 25 petabytes of server files that is currently costing them $9,000 to host every day.
And the government is happy for Carpathia to wipe the files, because they've already made backups of the important files. A plan by Carpathia and Megaupload to re-unite files with owners have already been rejected by prosecutors, and interested parties such as the MPAA.
The government explains that Mr. Goodwin's claim is not considered "irreparable harm" because Mr. Goodwin has the option to come to an arrangement with Carpathia for access to the server by a forensic expert, at the cost of thousands of dollars, and that he could also sue both Megaupload and Carpathia for damages if the files were no longer available.
In other words, the government is not willing to pay for, allow Megaupload to pay for, or create a process to allow affected users to access their legitimately uploaded files. And that's bad news for the thousands and maybe even millions, worldwide, affected.
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