There have been quotes from people who lost their files in the stories about this.
Why go to all that trouble to fight the FBI if you still have your files? Doubly so if these folks were some kind of pirates, because that's sort of like painting a giant target on their back.
My issue with this (other than the stupidity of not backing up an important file) is that I bet that the MegaUpload ToS (sadly not available right now) stipulate that they're not liable for any file loss.
If that's the case I don't think it would be unreasonable for the FBI to say that anyone having lost files has only themselves to blame as this wasn't any sort of guaranteed storage medium.
I don't think MU disclaiming responsibility for file loss automatically means the FBI should be able to come in and pinch them all without consequence. Every shopping centre has a sign in their carpark saying that they don't take liability for any damage to cars parked there, but if someone drives into your car in one they're still liable for damages, despite there not being any guarantee of security originally.
"I don't think MU disclaiming responsibility for file loss automatically means the FBI should be able to come in and pinch them all without consequence."
I don't think this works. The files are gone because MU's business model resulted in law enforcement action. So arguably MU's responsible, though they disclaim liability for damages.
It's like if MU stopped paying their hosting services, and those services shut down MU's servers for non-payment. MU's customers wouldn't have any case against the hosting providers. The FBI case is similar.
> Every shopping centre has a sign in their carpark saying that they don't take liability for any damage to cars parked there, but if someone drives into your car in one they're still liable for damages, despite there not being any guarantee of security originally.
That doesn't sound right. Why would a shopping center be liable for someone else's actions, specifically someone hitting your car?
Sorry, I was a bit imprecise with my pronouns. What I meant was that the person who hit you is liable. What I'm getting at is that MU disclaiming certain liabilities doesn't (or at least IMO shouldn't) give other parties license to do whatever they want without consequence.
In England: You can't disclaim liability. Thus, putting a sign in the car park saying "we're not liable for anything that happens to your car while parked here" means nothing; if something they did makes them liable they're still liable even if they have the sign up.
It's one thing for MU to say there are no guarantees that you won't lose your file, it's another for the FBI to say that they've taken them and won't give them back.
They're not lost. They're not gone. The FBI has them and they could give them back if they wanted to. I'm not saying they will, just that they could.
The only people who really have any standing to complain would be premium account holders. Everyone else's uploads would eventually be deleted, sooner or later.
And I suspect that MU's TOS made it clear that they weren't really guaranteeing permanent availability to even premium customers.
Why go to all that trouble to fight the FBI if you still have your files? Doubly so if these folks were some kind of pirates, because that's sort of like painting a giant target on their back.