Stefan Mileschin

Users of Megaupload who legally stored their data on the site are suing the US government for data theft.

The US Department of Justice switched off Megaupload servers at the request of Big Content and they also cut of millions of legitimate users from their backed-up content.

To be fair, the DoJ had been told that the site was only being used by pirates to distribute illegal content and for some reason it forgot that it might actually be being used legitimately.

According to TorrentFreak those users are fuming that the Government did not warn them to take their data off the site before they shut it down and they might have a point.

Ironically the legal campaign is being organised by the Pirates of Catalonia who are working with Pirate Parties International.

A posting on the Pirates of Catalonia Website said that the widespread damage caused by the sudden closure of Megaupload was unjustified and completely disproportionate to the aim intended.

It has created a form where users can register their complaints, and plans to "facilitate submission of complaints against the US authorities in as many countries as possible, to ensure a positive and just result.

At the moment it is not clear what legal action the group can take. The only specific statutes the Pirates of Catalonia mention are Articles 197 and 198 in the Spanish law which govern the misappropriation of personal data.

At the moment the group said that it is only investigating "potential breaches of law."

What might stop them being successful is that Megaupload's terms of service said that users who stored data on the site did so at their own risk. While that might have protected Megaupload from being sued, it could be used by the DoJ to say that legitimate users should have backed up anyway.

http://news.techeye.net/internet/meg...-us-government