The homepage of the website Megaupload.com. (AP Photo)
Data and information of at least 50 million worldwide
users of website Megaupload could be deleted as soon as
Thursday, American prosecutors say.
Users of the file website have been unable to access their
data since the site was shut down on January 19, amid
allegations of theft of intellectual property and data
piracy.
US authorities are now trying to extradite the 38-year-old
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom and three of his colleagues
from New Zealand.
A letter filed in the case on Friday by the US Attorney's
Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said the data of
millions of users could be deleted from the website and third
party servers, reported Radio New Zealand.
Prosecutors copied the data needed for their case, and have
granted permission for the server's subcontractor's storage
companies, Carpathia Hosting and Cogent Communications Group,
to start deleting data from February 2.
This move could see the personal photos and home movies of at
least 50 million users permanently disappear, as they no
longer have access to what they uploaded online because of
legal proceedings.
Associated Press business writer Josh Freed broke the story,
and told Radio New Zealand this morning there was a chance
the personal information of worldwide users, including New
Zealanders, could disappear.
"The information that is the focus of prosecutors is
allegedly these pirated movies, pirated music, that kind of
thing. The company says a lot of families had their own
family photos, family movies and personal documents, things
that would be perfectly legal.''
Users from around the world can no longer access the site
since it was closed, and have been unable to retrieve
information online.
He said although the site had an estimated 150 million users,
only a third were estimated to be affected by the deletion as
there was a variety of spaces to store data on the site.
As the start date of the deletion is scheduled in a few days
time, there was still a chance a resolution could be found to
prevent personal data being deleted, he said.
"It's possible of course they will work something out ...
That leaves a few days here for some kind of court order or
some sort of intervention that would put a stop to this.''
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