Megaupload shutdown backlash looms

FOLLOWING THE MEGAUPLOAD raid, shutdown and subsequent media circus, the service has been depicted as a den of iniquity, piracy and copyright violation. A backlash, however, is looming as the many people who used Megaupload legitimately to share non copyright infringing files kick off a fight to get their data back.
Politically, the saga also appears to be heating up as the various pirate parties scattered around the globe plan to file an official complaint to the US authorities listing the many thousands of legitimate Megaupload users impacted by the FBI raid (esimtates vary but the staggeringly large figure of 50 million Megaupload users is most quoted).
The timing of these moves is interesting, with a growing number of EU states ratifying the ACTA agreement, further enflaming an already tense situation as a growing number of people fight for what they see as the digital equivalent of freedom of speech.
Adding further fuel to what can only be described as an already firery situation, all the data contained on Megaupload’s servers may be about to be deleted, as it’s unable to pay the companies it contracted to store its data, because the US government has frozen its money.
Interestingly, the tangled web woven out of this situation means that the authorities may not be the target of any legal action taken by affected parties as Megauploads servers were not confiscated by the FBI, but were instead copied. The actual servers continue to be housed in data centres operated by two companies, both of whom could end up wearing any litigation that comes out of this sorry saga. PAT PILCHER