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by YetAnotherAlias 5261 days ago
Ignoring the backing-up data issue, this seizing of sites raises a couple of questions. I had never used Megaupload and I don't have a clue about what that site did. Assumming, I had stored a bunch of files on Megaupload: 1. Shouldn't the Feds return my files? After all those files are my property. Irrespective of whether or not I had back ups, what gives the Feds the right to seize my property indefinitely. 2. Does seizing the site, give the Feds the right to read through my files? what if I had been working on the next big super-duper idea, and they steal my ideas? 3. Would the 'unreasonable search & seizure' amendment apply to people's files?

These questions would apply to all cloud-storage companies. Can someone with more legal experience shed some light?
3 comments
twelvechairs 5261 days ago
> 2. Does seizing the site, give the Feds the right to read through my files? what if I had been working on the next big super-duper idea, and they steal my ideas?

Regardless of precise laws (it will take years to make a precedent) it would seem extremely naive to assume that anything you upload could and will not be read by the federal authorities, or others (megaupload owners, some guy at your ISP, etc.)... This is one of the major issues with using 'the cloud' as a platform for anything sensitive, and doesnt get enough attention.

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dia80 5261 days ago
As a side note I can see several people in this discussion refer to files as 'property'. While you may have intellectual property rights over the content of the files the only actual property is servers and HDDs which you certainly do not own. I don't think the FBI has taken anyone's property except Megauploads.
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cbs 5261 days ago
Would the 'unreasonable search & seizure' amendment apply to people's files?

I would speculate: no. Once something was uploaded to megaupload, it was made available for download to anyone with the url for the file.

If the file is public, its going to be very very hard to successfully argue that a LEO looking at it constitutes an unreasonable search.

There may have been no comfortable file navigation tools built into megaupload, but I believe they would still be considered 'public' by nature of the fact anyone could download them.

edit: I'm assuming that the public nature of the files would be the best choice to argue that it is not a unreasonable search. Of course there may still be reasonable searches if they're not public, but I think one could make a case that the files were public. Is this what you're disagreeing about?

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