Windows 10: How Microsoft's data case could unravel the US tech industry

In the wake of all the "Microsoft want's to spy on us" talk I thought I'd post this interesting Microsoft court case...

Source: How Microsoft's data case could unravel the US tech industry

:)

 

Why after 26 years MS has lost a valued customer

I'm with Teddy. Windows 10 looks like it could be a real winner, but it's not there yet (in my estimation.) We shouldn't be nagged or tricked into using Windows 10 just because it's in Microsoft's interest.

Yes, Microsoft is arrogant, but Microsoft didn't invent arrogance. The tech industry is run by juveniles who didn't get their way in the schoolyard.

 

Many problems with windows 10

Windows 10 has created a mess of problems on my computer. I can't get Cortana, nor my emails and the list goes on. And Microsoft has insulated themselves so that you can't even get a tech support personnel to help unravel the mess caused.

 

MS is headquartered in The USA, they will lose this case.

 

Maybe, maybe not. Ireland, and the U.K. have laws on the books favoring data privacy. Now if Ireland has agreed to give the U.S. government the data and Microsoft is in the middle saying no, then you are correct, Microsoft will ultimately lose their argument. However, if they can point to Ireland's privacy laws and claim it will put the corporation in violation of those laws, they may win at the Supreme level.

This is the problem of globalization of data. You can't simply enforce your will on the people of another country. We all know countries like North Korea and China have tried and it does not work.

 

Yeah and in the case of Ireland or the UK, wait till the EU gets involved.

 

It does not matter where the Data is, MS is a US Company and they are being Taken on by The US Department of Justice. This is not against an individual but a Global Company.

MS will lose.

 

Great information.

I think MS will lose especially if the data originated or was delivered to a US location.

But MS doesn't copy and preserve email data! Just ask many on this forum*chuckle

 

Actually that isn't the case. I currently work for a U.S. based global company that has data held in these countries. We had to jump through several hoops just to get our data copied to the U.S. to perform normal business. These countries are very funny about this stuff.

Microsoft is a global company, and has been for some time. They have campuses in Europe, Asia, Asia minor etc. When I worked for them in the early to mid-90's I traveled to some of our global campuses to train our folks on networking. Those campuses are not bound by U.S. law, but whatever country they are in. These countries have agreements concerning how workers are treated etc. but all data etc. is still subject to local laws.

Gator is right though, if the data is from a U.S. citizen, or a person originating in the U.S. then normally that data is considered the property of the U.S. Just like data that originates in Ireland is considered owned by that country. At least that is how many of the international privacy laws are written.

 

I used to work for The Dept of Justice and more than one US Judge and Magistrate has said that MS will lose which is one reason I do not use "The Cloud" for anything that I would deem important to me. Images and such is OK but there is no way in He double hockey sticks that I would ever back up my PC to a cloud based company. External Drives are cheap.

 

Maybe the US Government should have offered to pay for the data, instead of demanding it.

If the US Government wins (i.e. it owns everyone's data, everywhere) no foreign companies will use any services from US-based companies ever again.

The result will have to be restricted to US citizen's data or the US Tech Industry will get hammered.
Apparently (according to several articles I've read) the NSA has already cost the US billions of dollars in lost business.

 

And how did they found out the data is in Ireland ?Sniffing dogs ?

 

Indeed , it was the "sniffing dogs" that eventually revealed they were in the land of the shamrock , nothing gets past Rover.

 

Dancing to an ever-changing beat at Microsoft Ireland

"However, with technology also comes challenges. Microsoft Ireland has been at the forefront of these challenges when it comes to data privacy.
The firm has found itself having to defend a ruling in the US compelling it to hand over emails from an MSN.com account held on its servers in relation to a drug-trafficking investigation; the server in question is located in the Irish data centre. Months of work resulted in the Government filing a supporting brief for Microsoft in December.
Hallahan says the case is important to Microsoft, and she is proud of the stance the company has taken on the matter. Customers need to have clarity on the matter, she adds.
“This case is for us key evidence to our customers to show that we take this very seriously and that we’re going to defend the fact that we believe data held in a jurisdiction like Ireland should follow the laws and protocols that exist for Ireland,” she says.
Due process

“We want to collaborate with other countries where there are criminal issues but we want to do it in a way that is following due process. We want to protect people’s data the same way we would protect physical data. Where law enforcement would need to get information from a customer, a physical file, they would need a warrant to do that; we want digital data to be respected in the same way.” "

 

1. Microsoft is a US Based Company.
2. They Own the server where the Data is stored
3. Microsoft must comply with a Warrant From a Federal Judge
4. The source article is obviously biased against the US.
5. This data in question is in regards to some Drug Cartels email
6. The source even brings up Ed Snowden, who if ever found in The US will be tried for treason.

Now lets step back to September 7, 2001 say. What if the information in the email could have prevented the 9.11.2011 disaster? Thousands of lives were lost and many were from The UK and other countries. What I find amusing is that people are willing to give up all of their Net usage to MS by using Windows 10 and or Google but they damn The US for trying to obtain Data with a legal warrant.