Megaupload User Data Safe For “At Least Two Weeks”

Carpathia Hosting and Cogent Communications, the two hosting companies hired by Megaupload, have agreed to preserve user data for a further two weeks according to Ira Rothken, Megaupload’s lawyer.

The two companies were yesterday told they could delete the data from Thursday onwards by US federal prosecutors, but talks between the parties involved have saved millions of users’ files, if only for a short while.

Negotiating a deal

Rothken wrote on Twitter: “Carpathia and Cogent agreed to preserve consumer data for additional time of at least two weeks so #Megaupload can work with US on proposal”. Talks will likely concern the release of some of Megaupload’s funds to pay fees to the hosting companies as well as a solution to return data to users.

Megaupload’s lawyer yesterday stated that the closure of the site was tantamount to a threat on cloud computing as a whole, and withholding data damaged consumers’ rights and Megaupload’s ability to defend itself in court.

Today’s minor success will enable Megaupload a brief respite in which to hammer out a deal, though retrieving files for an estimated 50 million users could prove problematic according to a statement from Carpathia Hosting which responded to requests to return 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.”