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Kim Dotcom lambasts 'largest data massacre in the history of the internet'
Hosting provider says it stored data for a year with 'nobody showing interest' before reprovisioning for other customers
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom has attacked the internet-hosting company LeaseWeb after it wiped data from 630 servers that were used by his online storage service before it was shut down in January 2012.
Dotcom raged against LeaseWeb's decision in a series of tweets starting on Wednesday afternoon, suggesting in characteristically bombastic style that "this is the largest data massacre in the history of the internet".
He went on to claim that LeaseWeb had wiped the former Megaupload servers on 1 February 2013, but waited several months before informing Dotcom yesterday of its actions.
"Millions of personal #Megaupload files, petabytes of pictures, backups, personal & business property forever destroyed by #Leaseweb," tweeted Dotcom, who contrasted LeaseWeb's actions with those of Carpathia, another of Megaupload's hosting providers.
"While #Carpathia has chosen to store #Megaupload servers in a warehouse to protect the data from destruction #Leaseweb has done the opposite."
Dotcom also claimed Megaupload's lawyers had repeatedly asked LeaseWeb not to delete the data while he continues to fight against extradition to the US after his arrest in January 2012, after the FBI accused him of earning $175m in illegal profits through filesharing on Megaupload.
LeaseWeb tells a different story. The company's senior regulatory counsel, Alex de Joode, responded to Dotcom's accusations with a blogpost that refutes the claim that it ignored requests from Megaupload's legal team.
"For clarity, these servers were not owned by MegaUpload, they were owned by LeaseWeb. For over a year these servers were being stored and preserved by LeaseWeb, at its own costs. So for over one whole year LeaseWeb kept 630 servers available, without any request to do so and without any compensation," wrote de Joode.
"During the year we stored the servers and the data, we received no request for access nor any request to retain the data. After a year of nobody showing any interest in the servers and data we considered our options. We did inform MegaUpload about our decision to re-provision the servers."
De Joode confirmed that this reprovisioning had begun in February 2013. "We absolutely regret the setbacks Kim Dotcom has had since MegaUpload was taken offline, but we hope he as an entrepreneur will understand our side of the story and the decisions deliberately taken."
But Dotcom tweeted: "Who believes this crap?" after reading LeaseWeb's blogpost. "Our legal team and @EFF have written several data preservation demands to #Leaseweb. We were never warned about the deletion."
He added that he was considering taking legal action against LeaseWeb in its native Netherlands. The company could also face lawsuits from Megaupload users whose data was wiped from the servers.
Time will tell whether LeaseWeb's actions have an impact on the ongoing criminal prosecution of Dotcom, but the latest twist has provided further fuel for his suspicions of a conspiracy. "The FBI seized all my data and hasn't given me a copy yet. And now my backups on #Megaupload are gone too. How convenient."
Hosting provider says it stored data for a year with 'nobody showing interest' before reprovisioning for other customers
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom has attacked the internet-hosting company LeaseWeb after it wiped data from 630 servers that were used by his online storage service before it was shut down in January 2012.
Dotcom raged against LeaseWeb's decision in a series of tweets starting on Wednesday afternoon, suggesting in characteristically bombastic style that "this is the largest data massacre in the history of the internet".
He went on to claim that LeaseWeb had wiped the former Megaupload servers on 1 February 2013, but waited several months before informing Dotcom yesterday of its actions.
"Millions of personal #Megaupload files, petabytes of pictures, backups, personal & business property forever destroyed by #Leaseweb," tweeted Dotcom, who contrasted LeaseWeb's actions with those of Carpathia, another of Megaupload's hosting providers.
"While #Carpathia has chosen to store #Megaupload servers in a warehouse to protect the data from destruction #Leaseweb has done the opposite."
Dotcom also claimed Megaupload's lawyers had repeatedly asked LeaseWeb not to delete the data while he continues to fight against extradition to the US after his arrest in January 2012, after the FBI accused him of earning $175m in illegal profits through filesharing on Megaupload.
LeaseWeb tells a different story. The company's senior regulatory counsel, Alex de Joode, responded to Dotcom's accusations with a blogpost that refutes the claim that it ignored requests from Megaupload's legal team.
"For clarity, these servers were not owned by MegaUpload, they were owned by LeaseWeb. For over a year these servers were being stored and preserved by LeaseWeb, at its own costs. So for over one whole year LeaseWeb kept 630 servers available, without any request to do so and without any compensation," wrote de Joode.
"During the year we stored the servers and the data, we received no request for access nor any request to retain the data. After a year of nobody showing any interest in the servers and data we considered our options. We did inform MegaUpload about our decision to re-provision the servers."
De Joode confirmed that this reprovisioning had begun in February 2013. "We absolutely regret the setbacks Kim Dotcom has had since MegaUpload was taken offline, but we hope he as an entrepreneur will understand our side of the story and the decisions deliberately taken."
But Dotcom tweeted: "Who believes this crap?" after reading LeaseWeb's blogpost. "Our legal team and @EFF have written several data preservation demands to #Leaseweb. We were never warned about the deletion."
He added that he was considering taking legal action against LeaseWeb in its native Netherlands. The company could also face lawsuits from Megaupload users whose data was wiped from the servers.
Time will tell whether LeaseWeb's actions have an impact on the ongoing criminal prosecution of Dotcom, but the latest twist has provided further fuel for his suspicions of a conspiracy. "The FBI seized all my data and hasn't given me a copy yet. And now my backups on #Megaupload are gone too. How convenient."
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