Megaupload host: pay bill or we'll delete data
The price to keep Megaupload's data stash alive is costing one hosting company thousands a day.
The price to keep Megaupload's data stash alive is costing one hosting company thousands a day.
A hefty bill is taking its toll on the company hosting millions of users’ frozen data from the recently shut down Megaupload site.
Carpathia Hosting, a Virginia-based company in the US, says it needs its daily bill of US$9000 (NZ$11,124) to be paid off or allow the data to be deleted. Since Kim Dotcom’s arrest in January the bill has totalled to more than US$500,000.
The company recently filed a motion in a US federal court in Virginia to seek protection from having to pay for hosting data of around 66 million Megaupload users.
Carpathia’s court filing highlighted its reluctance to delete the files due to interest from many parties in preserving the data.
NBR understands from a source close to the case that New Zealand government employees were also among Megaupload's subscriber base. If that's correct, they may be hoping the bill is not paid, and the files are erased.
Carpathia is seeking a court hearing on the motion for sometime next month.
One of these parties include the Motion Picture Association of America which wants the data stored safely for possible future civil actions.
In a wave of embarrassment, US government officials were also among users subscribed to the Megaupload service, revealed by the website’s founder earlier this month.