Megaupload user data could be deleted by Thursday

Users of the controversial file sharing web site Megaupload could have their files deleted by Thursday, according to company lawyers.

According to papers filed by the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, the two companies used by Megaupload to store data, Capathis Hosting and Cogent Communications Group, could start deleting data now law enforcers have executed their warrants.

That could result in 50 million users of the service permanently losing copies of their data ranging from family photos to personal documents.

Lawyers for Megaupload told the Associated Press that it could not find alternative storage suppliers because the US government had frozen its funds.

But because the information stored was central to its defence, company attorney Ira Rothken said it hoped to reach an agreement to preserve the information.

“We're cautiously optimistic at this point that because the United States, as well as Megaupload, should have a common desire to protect consumers, that this type of agreement will get done," he told AP.

Megaupload was closed and several of its senior executives were arrested following internationally co-ordinated action at the behest of the US Department of Justice.

The DoJ has alleged that Megaupload's owners had trafficked pirated content worth more than $500m and generated $175m in profits by running advertisements and user services.

The closure of Megaupload sparked retaliatory action from hacktivist group Anonymous, which launched denial of service attacks against several US government web sites.