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Microsoft: Feds Are 'Rewriting' the Law To Obtain Emails Overseas

Posted by Soulskill on from the get-out-of-my-inbox dept.

An anonymous reader writes: The Electronic Communications Privacy Act was written in 1986. It's incredibly outdated, yet it still governs many internet-related rights for U.S. citizens. Microsoft has now challenged Congress to update the legislation for how online communications work in 2015. The company is currently embroiled in a legal battle with the government over a court order to release emails stored in a foreign country to U.S. authorities. In a new legal brief (PDF), Microsoft says, "For an argument that purports to rest on the 'explicit text of the statute,' the Government rewrites an awful lot of it. Congress never intended to reach, nor even anticipated, private communications stored in a foreign country when it enacted [the ECPA]." In an accompanying blog post, Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith wrote, "Until U.S. law is rewritten, we believe that the court in our case should honor well-established precedents that limit the government's reach from extending beyond U.S. borders. ... To the contrary, it is clear Congress's intent was to ensure that your digital information is afforded the same legal protections as your physical documents and correspondence, a principle we at Microsoft believe should be preserved."

5 of 100 comments (clear)

  1. The inversion is complete. by idontgno · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Once upon a time, we expected our intelligence agencies to spy overseas but leave our local privacy alone.

    Now, spy agencies tap every domestic communications channel, but apparently spying overseas is bad.

    --
    Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
    1. Re:The inversion is complete. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The right answer would be to move all corporate operations outside of the US, as they no longer have to comply with both US and EU laws.

      Really, a company this large threatening to actually up & move would make the US fold so fast it would be comical.
      Wow, can't believe I'm actually rooting for MS here. How times have changed.

  2. Re:No Microsoft by schwit1 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Would the US tolerate a foreign company operating in the US doing what complies with its home country laws but that violates US laws? I doubt it.

  3. Obama Hurts Another US Company... by richrz · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Film at 11. This will really hurt MS's credibility overseas, what little it has. It will drive people to move off Hotmail, Live, and God forbid their Microsoft Account (which is used to login to Windows machines now!!! Can you imagine if BUSH were doing this? I can't stand either Bush or Obama in this area so you partisan hacks know that up front. Only hope is Rand Paul or Ted Cruz at this point (unless you know of others?? I'm seriously open to anyone right now, please respond!). Gay marriage, universal healthcare, yadda yadda.. etc..all are trivial compared to this issue of humongous government that is treating us like subjects not like their bosses.

  4. Re:No Microsoft by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Interesting

    And your branch is doing business in Ireland which means it's subject to Irish law, which says that if you hand over those documents you're breaking it.

    So, MS, you may decide now which law you wish to break.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.