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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 It's incredibly outdated, yet it still governs many internet-related rights for U.S. citizens.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. Re:Pot vs. Kettle by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's funny when Google, Apple or Microsoft complain about privacy issues.

    Maybe that should tell you something about how overweening the US government has become...

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. Re:No Microsoft by PPH · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You're a US based corporation, subject to US law,

    Are you certain? Isn't it possible that Microsoft Ireland is a separate corporate entity from Microsoft USA?

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  5. Target Canada by phorm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So how is it then when "Target Canada" or other such companies go bankrupt, that "Target USA" isn't liable for all the debts they left behind?