( CNN ) -- Megaupload users have gotten at least a two-week reprieve during which the file-sharing company says it hopes their files and other stored data can be retrieved , not deleted . The news comes days after a federal prosecutor said user data on the site , which is accused of knowingly hosting illegally pirated material , could be deleted as early as this week . Megaupload 's attorney now says the companies that own the servers where the files are stored have agreed to wait while a solution is pursued . `` Carpathia and Cogent agreed to preserve consumer data for additional time of at least two weeks so # Megaupload can work with US on proposal , '' attorney Ira Rothken said late Monday on Twitter . One of those companies , Carpathia Hosting , said Tuesday that it 's working with Internet-rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation to help users get their data back . `` Although Carpathia does not have , and has never had , access to the content on Megaupload 's servers , the hosting provider wants to assist lawful users of the Megaupload service by promoting EFF and its nonprofit legal services , '' the company said in a statement . The company has created a website , megaretrieval.com , to help those users . Federal prosecutors on Friday had said files , presumably including perfectly legal ones , may be deleted , starting as soon as Thursday . `` It is our understanding that the hosting companies may begin deleting the contents of the servers beginning as early as February 2 , 2012 , '' U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride said in a letter filed in federal court . The letter , submitted Friday in the Eastern District of Virginia , says that government investigators had finished executing search warrants at centers where Megaupload and MegaVideo files are stored . MacBride wrote that the government copied some data but did n't remove any . Now that the search has been finished , the government no longer has access to the servers , he said . Seven people associated with the popular site were indicted this month on charges that they knowingly operated an `` international organized criminal enterprise '' allowing worldwide sharing of illegally pirated movies , music and other media . Attorneys for Megaupload , which is based in Hong Kong , have denied the charges . The indictment alleges the company has denied copyright holders an estimated $ 500 million and that those indicted have earned roughly $ 175 million in the process . Lost in the shuffle , though , may be millions of legitimate files stored on the site by its users . According to the government 's indictment , Megaupload has claimed more than 180 million registered users in its five-year existence . While some of those users say they went to the site to look for movies , television shows and other material that may be copyrighted , numerous others have complained that they 've lost access to personal and professional materials stored there . In the Carpathia statement , an attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation said the group is `` troubled '' that lawful users have `` had their property taken from them without warning and that the government has taken no steps to help them . '' `` We think it 's important that these users have their voices heard as this process moves forward , '' said Julie Samuels , a staff attorney at the foundation .
Companies have two weeks to get Megaupload files , lawyer says . Announcement came after hearing that files might be deleted this week . The file - sharing and storage site is accused of allowing piracy . Server companies are working to help users get Megaupload files , lawyer says .