The Justice Department on Thursday shut down file-sharing site Megaupload for "massive online piracy" in what the agency called the largest criminal copyright case ever brought by U.S. authorities. But what about the files that were stored on the service legitimately?
Megaupload undoubtedly included a treasure trove of illegal data—hence why the site's executives are now facing up to 50 years in prison. However, the files stored by Megaupload weren't just copies of the latest movies, software, or MP3s. They also included legal files from average Web users, many of whom took to the Web today to complain about losing access to their data.
"I had files of my own jpegs. No copyright infringement stuff. I am not that stupid. But now my links are dead," one PCMag reader wrote in the comments section of our Megaupload story.
"Wow, I actually used Megaupload sometimes to share home videos with my sister in another state. Now all my datas are gone. If they can do all this without SOPA/PIPA—imagine if they get passed!!!" wrote another.
SOPA and PIPA are the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA), two pending (though now delayed) bills that would go after overseas "rogue" Web sites that traffic in counterfeit or illegal goods. Though Megaupload had a big overseas presence, the company also had servers in Virginia and Washington, D.C., which allowed U.S. authorities to intervene.
At this point, Megaupload.com is offline. Files stored on the service likely still exist—the government will need them as evidence—but they are inaccessible, prompting frustration on Twitter.
"I am angry about Megaupload being shut down because I actually used the thing for transferring work files. You can't email a 200MB .zip," a user known as @thatjohn tweeted yesterday.
"I am seriously upset about the Megaupload thing, I have over 3 years of actively downloaded files on there that I do not have anymore!" wrote @UserIsBlocked.
"Megaupload for large files, Mediafire for small, Dropbox for business. That's what I used to do. Now what?" @longhim chimed in.
In a statement, a DOJ spokesman said "this is still an ongoing matter."
"It is important to note that Mega clearly warned users to keep copies of any files they uploaded," the spokesman said. "Megaupload.com expressly informed users through its Frequently Asked Questions ('FAQs') and its Terms of Service that users have no proprietary interest in any of the files on Megaupload's servers, they assume the full risk of complete loss or unavailability of their data, and that Megaupload can terminate site operations without prior notice."
One PCMag reader, however, wasn't too sympathetic.
"As a independent game developer, our games are pirated on MegaUpload and Rapidshare. It a constant battle with these websites to have our IP taken down," he wrote. "They take hours in doing so, only to have a new download site pop up sometimes hours latter [sic]. We work hard on our games, we deserve to get compensated. We are not some large corporation, just 4 employees. Hear that Internet, you steal, they will come for you. You hack, they will come for you. Anonymity is no longer a shroud."
Members of the hacker collective Anonymous, however, lashed out over the Megaupload shutdown, launching distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks that took down the Web sites of the DOJ, FBI, MPAA, RIAA, and Universal Music.
"ALERT: U.S. Justice stole all your megaupload uploaded files. NO FREEDOM, EXPECT U.S.!" Anonymous tweeted last night.
For more, see What Is Megaupload? Also check out Disaster-Proof Your Data with Online Backup.
Editor's Note: This story was updated at 3:30pm Eastern with comment from the DOJ.