Warrant Calls for Microsoft to Hand over User Information

A federal judge ruled on Thursday that Microsoft must hand over email stored on servers in Ireland. This was requested in a warrant related to a narcotics case.

Dictated by U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska, the ruling is the latest in a long battle over who has full control over a users data in a time where it can be stored anywhere in the world.

Because Microsoft, a U.S. company, runs the servers therefore, it does not matter where they are located.

Many companies have rallied around Microsoft. They believe the ruling is a threat to their plans of offering cloud-computing services overseas.

Microsoft will likely appeal the decision.

The big issue is the fact that if data kept overseas are under the control of American companies, are they beyond the reach of search warrants? Microsoft believes that the search warrant issued cannot seize the data in Ireland because U.S. jurisdiction does not extend there.

"What is at stake is the privacy protection of individuals' email and the ability of American tech companies to sustain trust around the world," Bradford L. Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, said in an interview after the ruling.

This case is believed to be the first time where a United States company fought against a domestic search for information stored overseas.

"This type of ruling is going to open up a Pandora's box of concerns by European countries," Mr. Newman said.

The companies behind Microsoft worry that if the ruling is successful in seizing user information, they could lose bllions of dollars in revenue to foreign competitors because customers will fear that their information is vulnerable to U.S. seizing.

"The only issue that was certain this morning was that the District Court's decision would not represent the final step in this process. We will appeal promptly and continue to advocate that people's email deserves strong privacy protection in the U.S. and around the world," Smith said in a statement.