DOJ Continues to Obstruct Access to Megaupload Data

Interesting post over on Tech Dirt about the case against Kim Dotcom’s former company, Megaupload. The U.S. Department of Justice continues to have no answer for the millions of users whose data was seized on Megaupload’s Virginia servers. This conduct of course raises many questions about the motivations behind the government’s case, and who exactly they are serving.

The whole situation is bizarre. Individuals who had legitimate content stored on Megaupload are still asking for access to get back their content, but the DOJ doesn’t seem to care at all. In fact, it’s coming up with increasingly bizarre excuses to justify shutting down an entire business based on the entertainment industry’s say so, and seems to have no qualms about how many people this has created massive problems for.

As the Aereo case is about to be heard, and various concerns about its impact on cloud computing are being raised, people should look over at what’s happening with Megaupload’s servers and be even more concerned. If the broadcasters succeed in redefining what is a “public performance,” it’s entirely conceivable that the DOJ could choose to do the same to other cloud services you rely on — and there seems to be no recourse whatsoever.