I could be wrong, but I believe the government's position is that they have already copied everything that they want, and that Carpathia was free to destroy the

I could be wrong, but I believe the government's position is that they have already copied everything that they want, and that Carpathia was free to destroy the data. If they are continuing to store it of their own volition, then they are fully responsible to pay for it on their own. Even if their reason for preserving the data is for fear of a lawsuit by Megaupload or others, that is entirely their responsibility if there is no Government requested court order in place that requires them to preserve it as evidence. If they have been ordered to hold the data/servers as evidence, then the Government, as the requesting party, is solely responsible for the costs. If and when any party is found guilty at trial, the government can ask that the guilty defendant(s) be held financially responsible for all costs of prosecution, which would include reimbursement of these expenses.