U.S. judge orders Microsoft to submit customer's emails from abroad

[Newsjock]

Source: Reuters

Microsoft Corp must turn over a customer's emails stored in a data center in Ireland to the U.S. government, a U.S. judge ruled on Thursday in a case that has drawn concern from privacy groups and major technology companies.

Microsoft and other U.S. companies had challenged a criminal search warrant for the emails, arguing federal prosecutors cannot seize customer information held in foreign countries.

But following a two-hour court hearing in New York, U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska said the warrant lawfully required the company to hand over any data it controlled, regardless of where it was stored.

... AT&T Inc, Apple Inc, Cisco Systems Inc and Verizon Communications Inc all submitted court briefs in support of Microsoft, along with the privacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation. The companies are worried they could lose billions of dollars in revenue to foreign competitors if customers fear their data is subject to seizure by U.S. investigators anywhere in the world.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/31/usa-tech-warrants-idUSL2N0Q61WN20140731

[Swede Atlanta]

1. This is big brother on steroids.....

First of all I thought the all-seeing, all-knowing NSA would already have this.

Further, No, No and Hell No. We need to begin to bleed the spy government. If that takes dramatic action so be it but we have to start reigning it in.

[cstanleytech]

2. No, its not. The government obtained a warrant which means they went to a judge which is

what they are supposed to do.
The only way though that MS might have prevailed is if they did zero business inside the US however the facts are that they do operate here thus they have to obey US laws which means they have to turn over evidence if served with a warrant and they cannot use the fig leaf of storing such information in another country as a method at concealing evidence.

[PSPS]

6. You're right. This was from a warrant issued by a real court with a real judge.

This isn't related to any "secret" court with its "secret" laws charade used by Obama and his rogue NSA.

The real problem here is that the email was being stored "in the cloud" (i.e. on another's vulnerable computer.) This hapless customer was foolish enough to buy into the false claims (or clever implication) of privacy for anything stored "in the cloud."

[cstanleytech]

7. Small point, what the nsa is doing isnt "rogue" as the varies senate and congressional committees

that oversee them were well aware of what they were doing and approved of it as did the so called fisa courts.

[JDPriestly]

8. Unless the warrant conforms to the Fourth Amendment, it is illegal.

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/fourth_amendment

The warrant has to be based upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation and must describe in detail the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.

I would argue that a warrant that gobbles up all of Microsoft's overseas records does not describe the items to be seized in enought detail or particularity.

Interpreted as the FISA court has interpreted it, the Fourth Amendment has utterly no meaning.

The Supreme Court has already whittled away at our constitutional protections so as to make the Constitution almost irrelevant.

This FISA court's overly permissive interpretation of the Fourth Amendment also gives the executive branch of which the CIA and NSA are a part too much power and ability to place the members of Congress under surveillance. That destroys the delicate balance of powers that is the foundation of our Constitution.

It is just a matter of time and the arrival of a competent lawyer until the Fourth Amendment is correctly interpreted and the spying on American citizens ends. If that does not happen, we will have a very nasty, very, very powerful dictatorship within a not very long time.

The Fourth Amendment is worded as it is because one of the reasons that the Founding Fathers revolted and we became a nation separated from England was that the colonial Americans did not like the general warrants that permitted British soldiers and law enforcement to enter their businesses, homes, ships, etc. and just grab whatever they wanted.

Here is an article on writs of assistance:

http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/amendIVs2.html

And here, of John Wilkes:

http://www.history.org/Foundation/journal/summer03/wilkes.cfm

[cstanleytech]

10. "I would argue" what you would argue is immaterial to what a judge rules and in this

specific case the judge ruled that MS has turn over the information as specified in the warrant.

[blkmusclmachine]

3. WHERE DOES THIS END???

And is ANYBODY still buying the 9/11 excuse for all this bullsh!t???

[L0oniX]

4. So uhm ...isn't meta data good enough?

[cstanleytech]

5. I dont see how a list of phone numbers is relevant could you explain your reasoning please?

[L0oniX]

11. You don't get it. O well.

[htuttle]

9. It's too bad the government doesn't treat corporate revenue the same way