I blogged previously about the really interesting dispute between Microsoft and the government regarding the territorial reach of the warrant authority under ECPA. As you may recall, Microsoft moved to quash a warrant requiring it to produce emails stored in a data center in Dublin Ireland, arguing that the court had no jurisdiction to issue a warrant with extraterritorial reach. The government countered that Microsoft was compelled to produce everything in its custody and control, regardless of where it was stored, and in any event, it was not an extraterritorial search since it was being accessed from within the United States. Magistrate Judge Francis ruled for the government, and Microsoft appealed.
In a ruling issued from the bench this morning, Judge Preska sided with the government and Magistrate Judge, although agreed to stay the ruling to give Microsoft time to appeal. Microsoft already has vowed to take this to the Second Circuit. The case raises a host of important and fascinating issues of first impressions. So stay tuned for more! (Also check out Orin Kerr’s interesting take on the case here.)