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In Privacy Victory, Microsoft Wins Appeal Over Foreign Data Warrant (zdnet.com)
In what is being perceived as a major victory for privacy, Microsoft has won the reversal of a court order that required it to turn over to the United States government the contents of a customer's email account stored on an Irish server. ZDNet reports: The case centered on a uniquely-different warrant that was issued by U.S. prosectors in that it was for data stored in an email account stored by Microsoft overseas. Prosecutors said that because the data was hosted by a U.S.-based company, Microsoft must comply. But the judges concluded that Congress did not intend the law used in the case -- the Stored Communications Act -- to apply outside the US. The judges said was a "rational policy outcome" and should be "celebrated as a milestone in protecting privacy." The appeals court also reversed a charge of contempt, which allowed the company to trigger an appeal. The software giant has been battling U.S. prosecutors for two years over data held in its Dublin, Ireland datacenter, which it says cannot be accessed or retrieved by a US search warrant.
Corporate documents like board minutes, tax docs or HR policies would be available or obtainable at any corporations registered headquarters. For Microsoft, they would be available in the US. But non-corporate data, your goods and services, can't be held to that same standard. If Google buys a car in Europe and it is driven there, the US can't mandate the car be shipped to America for inspection. The government has no control over an asset outside of it's borders. The problem is data isn't a physical asset like a widget or cog. (which we have established laws for) So certain branches of the government want to make special laws and rules for it so they can increase their reach/power.