Coverage: Tech companies rally around Microsoft

The biggest names in tech are backing the ultimate giant in the industry – Microsoft. The company is trying to keep U.S. authorities from seizing customer emails in Ireland, and everyone is showing their support.

The New York Times story by Nick Wingfield had these details:

A broad array of organizations in technology, media and other fields rallied on Monday behind Microsoft’s effort to block American authorities from seizing a customer’s emails stored in Ireland.

The organizations filing supporting briefs in the Microsoft case included Apple, Amazon, Verizon, Fox News, National Public Radio, The Washington Post, CNN and almost two dozen other technology and media companies. A cross-section of trade associations and advocacy groups, from the American Civil Liberties Union to the United States Chamber of Commerce, and 35 computer scientists also signed briefs in the case, which is being considered in New York by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

“Seldom do you see the breadth and depth of legal involvement that we’re seeing today for a case that’s below the Supreme Court,” Bradford L. Smith, Microsoft’s general counsel, said in an interview.

The case involves a decision by Microsoft to defy a domestic search warrant seeking emails stored in a Microsoft data center in Dublin. Microsoft has argued that the search warrant could provide a dangerous precedent that is already leading to privacy concerns among customers. The case is especially relevant, the company says, to customers who are considering conducting more of their electronic business in the cloud.

The Reuters story by Bill Rigby quoted the company as saying that the method of obtaining the information didn’t respect laws:

Microsoft is appealing that ruling, saying U.S. authorities cannot automatically compel U.S. companies to hand over customer information stored overseas. The judge has temporarily suspended her order from taking effect while Microsoft appeals.

“We believe that when one government wants to obtain email that is stored in another country, it needs to do so in a manner that respects existing domestic and international laws,” said Microsoft head lawyer Brad Smith in a blog post on Monday. “The U.S. government’s unilateral use of a search warrant to reach email in another country puts both fundamental privacy rights and cordial international relations at risk.”

Smith said 10 industry groups planned to file “friend of the court” briefs with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York on Monday. He said the briefs will be signed by 28 tech and media companies, 35 computer scientists and 23 trade and advocacy organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Kim Zetter wrote for Wired that tech companies store data near consumers to offer protections:

Microsoft’s Smith noted in his post today that tech companies store data locally for good reason. If data is stored near the customers who own it, “consumers and companies can retrieve their personal information more quickly and securely.”

In its appeal, filed last week in the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, Microsoft likened the government’s move to the German Stadtpolizei serving a warrant on the Deutsche Bank headquarters in Germany to obtain records that a U.S. reporter in New York has stashed in a safety deposit box at a U.S. branch of the bank.

The case began last December when the government obtained a warrant for the content of emails and other data belonging to a customer. Microsoft found some of the data on servers in the U.S. but found that the email contents were stored on a server in Dublin. The government insisted the warrant was valid for that data as well.

The government’s move is a strong-arm tactic to establish authority over data no matter where it’s located as long as the company collecting the data is based in the U.S. The aggressive and novel grab for data overseas is likely a reaction to recent events following the Edward Snowden leaks in which some countries—such as Brazil and Germany—have discussed forcing U.S. companies to store data belonging to their citizens in servers in their countries.

Ellen Nakashima wrote for The Washington Post that companies are worried about sending business to competitors:

Many of the tech companies, including cloud-computing firms that have tens of billions of dollars in overseas sales, have joined with Microsoft on the legal principle as well as out of fear that they will lose the trust of foreign customers, sending them fleeing to non-U.S. firms.

“Allowing the government to use such a warrant would expose U.S. companies to legal jeopardy in other countries which prohibit the disclosure of such data and spur retaliation by foreign governments, which would threaten the privacy of Americans,” said Randal S. Milch, general counsel of Verizon Communications, which filed an amicus brief with other technology companies.

With most of the growth for many countries coming from overseas markets, customers fleeing due to privacy concerns could put a huge damper on earnings. It’s hard to imagine all those huge names in tech, media and industry coming together to help Microsoft. But as more people are increasingly concerned about privacy and protecting their data, it’s good to see private industry working to protect consumers, particularly when it looks like the government won’t.