Microsoft Files Appellate Court Brief on Search of Emails in Ireland Supported by a Host of Amicus Briefs from Ireland, the EU, and the High Tech Industry

On December 8, 2014, counsel for Microsoft Corporation filed its appellate brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, challenging the U.S. District Court’s decision on July 31, 2014, which adopted a prior magistrate’s order that it had jurisdiction to issue a warrant under 28 U.S.C. § 636(a)(1) and (b)(3). The district court upheld the extraterritorial execution of a warrant issued by Magistrate Judge Francis under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (“ECPA”) to seize the contents of an email belonging to a customer of Microsoft Corporation. Federal agents served a search warrant on Microsoft’s U.S. headquarters, requiring it to search for a customer’s private emails, copy them, and turn them over, even though they are located exclusively on a computer in Dublin Ireland, where they are protected by Irish and European privacy laws.