Decision in Microsoft case about to be challenged

As the Washington Post reported, the Justice Department asked the appeals court for the Southern District of New York to look at the decision concerning Microsoft’s refusal to comply with a search warrant for an alleged drug trafficker’s emails stored on a server in Ireland.

The case which this ruling was based on dealt with Microsoft receiving a warrant in December 2013. However, although it originally has been a case of compliance with a federal law enforcement request, now turned out to be a discussion over government access to digital data held overseas. This is due to increasing challenges to governments if they try to intercept data across borders.

Therefore, Microsoft and a number of tech firms and privacy groups reason that in case the government’s view will be applied, the outcome will be that U.S.-american businesses might lose billions of dollars in revenue.