Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is receiving huge support from all the major tech companies, corporate lobbyists, and academics in its fight against the U.S. Government concerning the protection of user data stored in foreign countries.
The Windows-manufacturer received a warrant from the U.S. government to hand over the emails stored in one of its data centers in Ireland; however, the tech company refused to comply stating the user trust and future of international cloud computing at stake.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) initiated its fight against the administration in 2013 stating that the government was abusing its rights by demanding information stored in a foreign land without involving the local administration. However, the prosecutor pointed out that the current demand is in alignment with the Irish authorities as it doesn’t requires the company to send its official to fetch the data and its U.S. employees already have control of the data.
Andrew Pincus, lawyer supporting Microsoft in its fight, said,
“If by putting them in the cloud, you lose control over them and the government just gets access whenever it wants, nobody’s going to do that.”
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has received support from several technology companies including Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ), AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO), eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY), Salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM).
Further, some of the largest corporate lobbyists including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers are in favor of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT).
All of these tech companies and business organizations have filed brief in a New York federal Appeals court asking the government to reverse its previous ruling.
The Center of Democracy and Technology is another rights group supporting Microsoft and the CEO, Nuala O’Connor, said,
“A US warrant should not reach electronic data stored outside of the country. If the US government wins this case, it would severely undermine trust in the global cloud. It would certainly lead to other countries demanding, through their own domestic legal regimes, access to Americans’ communications content stored in the US.”
This article has been written by Prakash Pandey.
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Eyes Windows 10 Release by Autumn
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Commits to Diversity, Approves CEO Pay
