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.