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Megaupload User Makes Progress In Fight To Reclaim Videos

Kyle Goodwin, who owns the business OhioSportsNet, was one of numerous Web users who stored copies of his videos on the cyberlocker Megaupload.

Goodwin and his employees travel throughout Ohio, take videos of various high school games, and then offers them online. His servers crashed on January, shortly before the federal government shut down Megaupload for alleged copyright infringement.

The upshot is that Goodwin was left with no way to access the videos he and his employees created.

Since May, he has been fighting in court to reclaim possession of the material. This week, he finally made some headway. U.S. District Court Judge Liam O'Grady in Alexandria, Va., who is presiding over the criminal proceedings against Megaupload executives, said that he will hold a hearing in the case to determine what to do about the videos that Goodwin uploaded.

Merely granting Goodwin a hearing might not sound like much, but it's a significant development in this case because it will be Goodwin's first opportunity to prove that he's entitled to recover the material he placed in Megaupload's cloud.

It's safe to say that the case against Megaupload's executives isn't going that well for the government. The New Zealand court system might refuse to extradite company founder Kim Dotcom. And the country's prime minister, John Key, recently apologized to Dotcom for authorizing a search of his mansion that turned out to be illegal. (It's not yet clear what will happen to any evidence that was uncovered as a result of the unlawful raid.)

But regardless of what happens with the case against Megaupload, users like Goodwin, who had nothing to do with the alleged copyright infringement, shouldn't be penalized for storing material with the company.

1 comment about "Megaupload User Makes Progress In Fight To Reclaim Videos".
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  1. Chuck Lantz from 2007ac.com, 2017ac.com network, October 5, 2012 at 5:56 p.m.

    Kim Dotcom? Has anyone checked to see if this story originated at The Onion?

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