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MPAA: If Megaupload Gets Data Back They’ll Relaunch

The battle for both Megaupload and its former users to get their data back continues.

The data is currently stored on servers at Carpathia Hosting in the US at the not inconsiderable cost of $9,000 a day.

Megaupload’s legal team is working hard to reunite its users with their data and are negotiating with the Department of Justice to this end.

But after discovering that Carpathia had agreed to sell the servers back to Megaupload, the MPAA have other ideas on their ideal destiny.

“A sale or transfer of the servers to Megaupload (or any of the defendants) would raise a significant risk that Megaupload will simply ship the servers, hard drives or other equipment — and all of the infringing content they contain — to a foreign jurisdiction and relaunch the infringing Megaupload service, which would result in untold further infringements of the MPAA members’ copyrighted works,” the movie industry group said in a court filing yesterday.

“If so, the renewed criminal enterprise might be beyond any effective legal remedy.”

The MPAA adds that since the servers contain some of their copyright works, any sale or transfer would “constitute an unauthorized “distribut[ion] … to the public” under the Copyright Act.”

A resurrected Megaupload is clearly something the MPAA wants to avoid and it’s clear they will fight hard for the servers to be either wiped or left in neutral hands.

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  • http://www.francky.me Franck Dernoncourt

    If Megaupload Doesn’t Get Its Data Back MU Users Will Sue MPAA.

    • http://www.webstatsart.com/ Webstats Art

      What is MPAA?

      • http://www.francky.me Franck Dernoncourt

        A greedy parasitic dinosaur.

      • Johan

        First result on Google. You’re welcome.

      • Bdf346

        Motion Picture Assholes of America

        • gudrun

          Must Punish All Artists

      • Anonymous

        How did you arrive at this website without know who the MPAA are?

        http://lmgtfy.com/?q=MPAA seriously, man.

  • Guest

    Screw the MPAA. Who do they think they are, Internet police? Consumers should boycott their stuff. Black March was a good idea, too bad it never caught on. We should do more.

    • Anonymous

      they are its called piracy

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IZ5BM5GNLA54OADSWGSXAMA7SY Jay

      The MPAA isn’t what we’re fighting here.

      We’re fighting the government that has given in to crony capitalism. The MPAA is just a sideshow while the government has 5 RIAA lawyers calling the shots.

  • Anyone

    are they really that paranoid?

    • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/JVSGJ5PT2ADSELBXBDXGKCZY5I beedogs

      Yes.

      They really are.

      Stop buying their products.

      • Anyone

        I already stopped
        my money now goes to VPNs ;)

        • Vpn

          :)

  • http://twitter.com/p2jack Jack

    A foreign jurisdiction… they hosted half of the files with leaseweb… Foreign countries don’t matter to the US, Richard O’Dwyer is getting extradited from the UK even though he has committed no crime. Same with kim dotcom.
    That and as you have frozen 90% of his money, he can’t afford to re-launch.

    • offshore

      There is quite a few of us who would donate space at our datacenters that are in jurisdictions that cant be touched that would be more than happy to float the costs till they got back on their feet.

  • Anonymous

    Why are they assuming something that hasn’t been proven in court yet and trying to use it as a fact for the court to base a decision on?

    The more we see of this whole thing, the more of a travesty it becomes.

    • Anonymous

      They are waiting for the weapons of mass destruction to be planted. Oh, they forgot that there too.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Don-Dilly/1624894683 Don Dilly

    As I see it, the megaupload servers should never have been seized in the first place.

    For the criminal conspiracy charge to stick they must first prove infringement by the company to the extent they lose their dmca protection. these are civil matters. I cant see how they can rightfully be charged with conspiracy until after those matters are resolved, and you dont go round seizing servers and shutting down companies for civil proceedings.

    It is questionable whether aside from all else the conspiracy charge is not being abused. The original intention of a conspiracy charge was for it to relate to a felony crime not a civil tort.

    Using the FBI rationale if 2 or more people discuss and cross the road at an unapproved location they would not be ticketed for a misdemeanor (if at all) but indited for conspiracy to cross the road.

    I feel a chicken joke coming on lol

    • Matthieu Rakotojaona

      I think what you mean is this : http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2508#comic

      What surprises me the most is that everyone seems to have forgotten that the whole MegaUpload company has been shut down to respect US laws, while it didn’t have to. Feels like wherever you are, you’re under the US law.

      Problem, world ?

  • Bloaxor

    “Megaupload will simply ship the servers, hard drives or other equipment — and all of the infringing content they contain — to a foreign jurisdiction and relaunch the infringing Megaupload service.”

    Yes, because now they can just grab a 9000$/day chunk of Carpathia Hosting and move it elsewhere.
    right guys..?

    ..right?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002639684444 Ryan Smith

    The only thing that would happen is that MegaUpload could allow users to access their content. They could relaunch fresh any time they want.

    • textboox5

      I think the MPAA realizes that they are screwed. They are currently standing between a rock (millions of angry people that lost legal data) and a hard place (the Department of Justice). That quote above simply sounds like a poor rationalization to me. There are many ways that users could be reunited with their data. The most obvious is sending out DVD’s with the information of affected users. However, they could stick the whole entire website online for a month and just hire a room at the NSA to track all downloads. Then, if someone downloads an infringing file, its lawsuit and jail time. This is not impossible, and you can actually buy programs as an ordinary person that allow you to look at network traffic (NetResident is a particularly scary one that can even [supposedly] put together IM messages). Besides, this would give the NSA something else to do rather than listen to all of our phone calls and read our emails.

      I also don’t think that the MPAA expected such a public backlash or for Megaupload to actually respond to their lawsuit with valid arguments. The MPAA now is being roasted by the American people and also by the government.

      Note to future world leaders: If you are going to do a knee-jerk reaction, you had better build two fires. One to roast your opponent and one to roast yourself. I think the MPAA is now realizing that closing down Megaupload as retaliation for the SOPA and PIPA bills was a really bad idea.

  • North Korea Save Us

    North Korea will relaunch their satellite a billion times over and over…

    Problem US?

  • Officer Ricky

    Megaupload back, Megaupload back
    There’s all these bitches screaming that Megaupload back

  • Chris Doss

    What you people don’t realize is that we at the MPAA deserve to have your money. All of it. If you don’t hand it over, we’re going to sue you. We run America. We control the government. We have the right to tell you what to buy, what to wear, and how to live. Stop fighting us and let us do our thing. If you continue to resist, you’ll only make things worse. We’re the pimps and you’re the hoes. Don’t forget that. Now gimme my money.

    • No shit!

      You bitch’s aint shit yet, better believe that!

  • Guest551

    Its no secret there is a revolving door between the Dept of Justice (Hires RIAA people), MPAA (hires people from Dept Justice, Senate Judicial Committee, Whitehouse). MPAA is headed by an ex Democrat Senator, Megaupload indictment was filed by US Attorney who used to be VP of anti-piracy Business Software Alliance and the cosy bed goes on and on

  • Anonymous

    Let’s suggest MPAA to foot the bill to keep the servers alive. They asked for it to be taken down…Time for them to step up.

  • Chameleon87

    Why isn’t this on the main page instead of something like the article of his wife giving birth !?!

    This just doesn’t make sense

  • Mattmon

    If they’re found not guilty, they should be allowed to relaunch.

  • MadAsASnake

    So are MPAA claiming rights over this fiasco? The can hardly maintain this stance and divest responsibilty on DOJ at the same time.

  • Anonymous

    All content thieves will be punished.

  • Jackson Res

    Fuck MPAA, IF MU GET THE SERVERS BACK THEY AREN’T GONNA SHARE THE FUCKING FILES, WE USE MU FOR ONLINE BACKUP STORAGE OF OUR FUCKING FILES, NOT FOR SHARING YOUR FUCKING COPYRIGHTED FUCKNIG SHIT.

    FUCK YOU RETARDED SON OF A BITCH.

  • Jackson Res

    DON’T READ THIS POST IF YOU RE A TWIT WIT FUCKER WHO CAN’T DIGEST THE TRUTH.

    FUCK THE PARLIAMENTS MPAA OR WHATEVER PIPA SHITS YOU ARE.

    YOU CAN SET UP A BIG TREATY OR ACT YET YOUR FUCKING TWITWIT PEA BRAIN CANT TELL THAT WE USE MU FOR LEGITIMATE ONLINE BACKUP, NOT FOR SHARING YOU ASSHOLES.

    GO SUCK YOUR OWN DICK YOU PEA BRAIN.

  • BTGuard - BitTorrent Anonymously

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