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Worried your legal files stored on Megaupload are about to be deleted? The non-profit Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has offered to help with retrieving legitimate content and returning it to Megaupload users.

For those that haven’t been paying attention, Megaupload was a cloud-based storage company that encouraged users to upload personal files and share them using its service. But the company and some of its employees were fingered in a 72-page indictment issued two weeks ago by the Department of Justice. The indictment against Megaupload alleges it is connected to a vast criminal enterprise that has caused more than $500 million in harm to copyright holders.

But the immensely popular site for file-hosting didn’t just allow users to share copyrighted movie and music files — many customers of the site used it to store and send personal files, just like you can on many other file-sharing sites on the web. When the site was taken down, Megaupload fans complained bitterly that the government had taken away access to legal files used for work, as documented by TorrentFreak. Some users are even banding together to sue the government.

Those users who lost legal files and want a chance at getting them back can now visit a site called MegaRetrieval, which has been put together by the EFF and Carpathia Hosting. The site requests Megaupload users to provide details about what data was lost and if possible, the organization will try to resolve their issues through all means at their disposal. While it doesn’t guarantee getting your files back, it’s better than doing nothing.

“EFF is troubled that so many lawful users of Megaupload.com had their property taken from them without warning and that the government has taken no steps to help them,” said Julie Samuels, attorney at EFF, in a statement. “We think it’s important that these users have their voices heard as this process moves forward.”

Filed under: cloud

When Megaupload was shut down a week ago by the Department of Justice and FBI for allegedly profiting from copyright infringement, many of the service’s users complained that they lost personal, non-infringing files. Now those users are banding together to sue the government.

Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom and several other Megaupload employees were named in a 72-page indictment issued last week by the Department of Justice. The indictment against Megaupload alleges it is connected to a vast criminal enterprise that has caused more than $500 million in harm to copyright owners. If convicted, the company and its executives could serve many years in prison. Next up, Dotcom will face an extradition hearing on Feb. 22.

But the immensely popular site for file-hosting didn’t just allow users to share copyrighted movie and music files — many customers of the site used it to store and send personal files, just like you can on many other file-sharing sites on the web. When the site was taken down, Megaupload fans complained bitterly that the government had taken away access to legal files used for work, as noted by TorrentFreak.

In a response, the site Pirates of Catalonia, in collaboration with Pirate Parties International, is rallying former Megaupload users to sue the U.S. government. Pirates of Catalonia writes:

The FBI has caused incalculable damage, far in excess of the losses claimed by the content lobbies, in a fruitless attempt to prevent access to the media content hosted on Megaupload, some of which they claim to have been infringing copyright under US law. However, as much of the unlawful content will still be available via other services on the web, this action not only shows us the futility of these measures but also serves as a reminder that these files are not necessarily, nor have been shown to be, illegal in any country, including the US.

In contrast, by closing the service they have impeded the access to millions of archives of both private individuals and organisations, potentially causing huge personal, economic and image damages to a vast number of people. In addition, the Pirate Party understands they may have violated Articles 197 and 198 of the Spanish Penal Code by misappropiating personal data.

Users who have been affected by the Megaupload shutdown can sign the petition at Pirates of Catalonia’s Megaupload site.

Filed under: media

For most offices, avoiding an avalanche of paper is a daily struggle. Even with so much content available online these days, paper still seems to pile up in offices and clutter workspaces. Doctape, a German based company, is launching a new service to fix that. Doctape is an online space where personal and business files can be stored and shared.

The company’s founders are proponents of paper free offices and Doctape was born out of the desire to store personal files online safely and as organized as possible. Instead of focusing on the files themselves, like Dropbox does, Doctape emphasizes the content of the file you store. Meaning, you can view pdfs and images and play video from Doctape without needed to download the file.

Doctape was built off the Node.js platform, which eBay, LinkedIn and Microsoft use. There is no software download needed; everything is stored on the cloud. Files you upload are saved to your “tape”, also known as your digital file cabinet. Doctape supports several file types, including jpeg, png, pdf, mp4 and doc. Once a file is uploaded it can be tagged, viewed, shared and downloaded. In addition to sharing individual documents, you can share your entire tape with another person.

One of Doctape’s greatest strengths is its clean and simple interface. All of your files, tags and shared documents are easy to find and color-coded for organization. Instead of folders, Doctape relies on tagging to keep everything organized. One really cool feature is the ability to drag and drop files into Doctape from your computer. All you have to do is drag a file onto the Doctape webpage and the file will automatically be uploaded.

The company was founded in March of 2011 by three entrepreneurs based in Germany who bootstrapped to get Doctape off the ground. Doctape will emerge from private beta later this year and will be pitched at the San Francisco Node Summit at the end of January.

Filed under: VentureBeat

Owners of last year’s third-generation Kindle don’t need to buy a new model to take advantage of some nifty new cloud features.

Amazon has just released the latest update for the third-gen Kindle which will let you keep your personal documents in the cloud and easily access them from any Kindle app or newer devices. For many Kindle users, it’s a fairly major update that takes advantage of Amazon’s cloud prowess and provides yet another feature that other e-readers like the Nook and Sony Reader don’t offer.

The company first announced that it would be storing your personal files in the cloud when it unveiled the new $79 fourth-gen Kindle, Kindle Touch, and the Kindle Fire tablet. Amazon will also be keeping the third-gen Kindle around, except it’s now called the Kindle Keyboard.

Previously, personal files via your Kindle e-mail address, which can include text documents, pictures, and PDF files, were delivered directly to your Kindle device, but weren’t archived anywhere. Now your personal documents will be treated just like Kindle e-books. Amazon’s Whispersync technology will also synchronize your last page read, annotations, and bookmarks for personal documents. Unfortunately, Amazon says PDF files won’t be compatible with the Whispersync features.

Once in Amazon’s cloud, your personal documents can be re-downloaded on the new Kindle Touch and fourth-gen Kindle. That’ll make upgrading to one of the newer models even more painless. Amazon says it’s working on bringing the personal file synchronization feature to the Kindle Fire and Kindle apps “in the coming months.” The new features won’t be available on older Kindle models at all, which doesn’t come as too much of a surprise.

The fourth-gen Kindle is available for purchase now, and you can pre-order the $99 Kindle Touch, which will start shipping on November 21. The $199 Kindle Fire tablet is also available for pre-order now and will be released on November 15.

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Filed under: cloud, media, mobile, VentureBeat