Megaupload data safe for now

The company that stored data for file-sharing site Megaupload.com said it has no plans to delete users' files.

Prosecutors shut down Megaupload earlier this month and charged its operators with copyright infringement, money laundering and other charges.

In a letter to Megaupload's attorneys last week, prosecutors said they had completed their search of the site's servers, which are operated by two data companies, Carpathia and Cogent. With their search complete, prosecutors said the companies could begin deleting Megaupload's data as early as Thursday.

Although the site is charged with hosting illegal copies of movies and TV shows, many people used Megaupload to store legitimate files, such as family photos.

According to the indictment, Megaupload leased 25 petabytes, or 25 million gigabytes, from Carpathia.

"Carpathia Hosting has no immediate plans to reprovision some or all of the Megaupload servers," Brian Winter, a spokesman for Carpathia, said in a statement. "This means that there is no imminent data loss for Megaupload customers. If this situation changes, Carpathia will post a notice at least 7 days in advance of reprovisioning any Megaupload servers at http://www.Carpathia.com and http://www.MegaRetrieval.com."

MegaRetrieval.com is a joint effort between Carpathia and the Electronic Frontier Foundation to help users recover data they had stored with Megaupload.

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