FBI Must Start Copying 150TB of MegaUpload Data

A New Zealand judge has ordered the FBI to begin copying 150TB of data from systems seized in the MegaUpload raid. This is a precautionary measure for access to evidence.

The New Zealand judge has ruled that the FBI has 21 days to prepare evidence in the US and New Zealand to hand over to the lawyers of Kim Dotcom and the other MegaUpload suspects. The FBI then stated that it would probably not meet that date due to the size of the data volume. There would have been 10 million emails alone on the systems that the FBI and New Zealand authorities seized in the raid on the Dotcom mansion. So this is not about user data.

FBI agent Michael Postin said according to the NZ-Herald that it would take just 10 days to copy 29 terabytes alone and that some of the data could not be copied due to encryption. He estimated it would take two and a half months to transfer the full 150TB. The judge replied that the FBI should start right away and that the US had plenty of options for transferring. Costs should also not play a role because, according to the judge, they are “insignificant compared to the other costs for the investigation and prosecution of an operation of this size”.

The copied files are not immediately made available to Dotcom’s defense. Whether the US government is obliged to do so will be determined at a later date. The defense needs the data to prepare to challenge a US extradition request. According to The FBI could be years away from closing the extradition case.