“Global Firestorm” If Emails Must Be Turned Over, Says Microsoft

Tech giant Microsoft has warned that if the U.S. government wins its legal battle over e-mails housed on a server in Ireland, it could lead to an “international firestorm” in which “any country with jurisdiction over a provider can reach into any other country and plunder our emails.” The government seeks to compel Microsoft to turn over the emails as part of an investigation into drug-trafficking. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Anderson argued that the search warrant issued for the emails was focused on disclosure, not the location of the content. The government, he said, “is indifferent to where Microsoft might have to go to gather these materials… The warrant doesn’t care where the records are.” A three-judge panel for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals must determine whether the 1986 Stored Communications Act allows a law enforcement agency to obtain stored emails with a warrant from a U.S. provider if those emails are stored abroad.