Tech giants join forces to fight US government

US government wants Microsoft to hand over a customer's emails stored in its Ireland datacentre

A host of tech vendors have backed Microsoft in its feud with the US government over emails stored in its Ireland datacentre.

Since 2013 the US government has been trying to force Microsoft to give it access to a customer's emails, which are stored in its Irish facility, under the Store Communications Act of 1986.

Microsoft argues that its Irish servers are out of the legislation's remit, and that a law which predates cloud computing should not be used to govern it.

In the latest instalment of the saga, the world's largest vendors have clubbed together - along with a host of academics, media organisations and governments - to push back against the US government's case by filing a series of Amicus briefings.

Vendors including Amazon, Apple, Cisco, HP Inc, IBM and SAP contributed to the filings on behalf of Microsoft.

Last week members of Congress also gave Microsoft their backing along with the French and Irish governments, among others.

Microsoft's chief legal officer Brad Smith said that if the US government wins this case, it could destroy the confidence international organisations have in the likes of Microsoft and AWS.

US cloud providers have often come in for criticism from their smaller, regional competitors who claim that storing data with US firms could be accessed by the US government.

Right now, US companies are world leaders in providing cloud services," said Smith.

"That leadership position is based on trust, but if the US government can assert this type of unilateral power to reach into datacentres that are operated by US companies in other countries, foreign countries and foreign customers will question their ability to trust American companies.

"The case is currently on its way to the US Supreme Court which will ultimately make the final decision."

Smith called on Congress to introduce a new law that would be fit to govern cloud computing and the privacy issues it creates.

"Ultimately, the courts - including the Supreme Court - can decide only whether the Department of Justice approach passes muster under current law. That's a blunt instrument," he said.

"The courts are not able to write a new law. Under our constitution, only Congress can do that, using its tools to craft a nuanced solution that balances all the competing concerns by enacting a statute for the twenty-first century."