MSFT Loses Another One

In a decision that could have broad privacy implications, a federal court in New York Thursday ordered Microsoft to comply with a U.S. government demand for a customer's emails stored on a company server in Dublin, Ireland. The decision upholds an earlier magistrate court decision.

In an oral ruling, District Court Judge Loretta Preska rejected Microsoft's argument that a U.S search warrant does not extend beyond the country's borders.

"The production of that information is not an intrusion on the foreign sovereign," Courthouse News reported Judge Preska as saying. "It is incidental at best," Preska noted, adding that the magistrate court order was not an extra territorial application of U.S. law.

The judge however stayed the ruling to give Microsoft time to appeal.