Megaupload files brief in US Court on consumer data access issue
Tuesday, October 30, 2012 at 02:55PM Megaupload filed a brief today requesting permission from the US Court to participate in the upcoming hearing on consumer data access. Megaupload is forced to file such a "special request" while it objects to US jurisdiction and awaits a final ruling on the cloud storage company's motion to dismiss.
Megaupload argues three core basis in support of its request:
First, as the Cloud storage internet service provider that hosted Mr. Goodwin’s and similarly situated users’ data, Megaupload is the proper entity under state and federal privacy laws, including the Stored Communications Act, codified at 18 U.S.C. Chapter 121 §§ 2701– 2712, to access the data for purposes of coordinating its return.
Second, especially because Megaupload designed and presided over the system on which Mr. Goodwin’s and similarly situated users’ data resides, Megaupload is best positioned—with respect to its technology, knowledge-base and otherwise—to locate, access, and retrieve that data in an expeditious, cost efficient manner. Megaupload has a strong legal interest in customer data access that goes beyond Mr. Goodwin and is uniquely positioned through its counsel to argue the factual, logistical, and legal issues to help develop a more accurate record for the Court’s 41(g) analysis.
Third, issues of data preservation and consumer access are inextricably bound up with Megaupload’s criminal defense and the due process rights that attach. Megaupload’s servers are presently unplugged, offline, and being stored at facilities owned by Carpathia Hosting, Inc. To the extent the Court orders the return of Mr. Goodwin’s or other similarly situated users’ property, the servers will need to be restored to a condition that allows access to and retrieval of data. Megaupload has a substantial interest in ensuring that the servers are brought back online and the data is subsequently retrieved in a manner that preserves the corpus of data and metadata so that relevant evidence is available for use in Megaupload’s criminal defense, as well as in the civil litigation that has been separately brought before this Court against Megaupload.