Microsoft tells U.S. government that 'gag orders' are unconstitutional
Microsoft fights US federal government over countless secret demands for customer data. Redmond alleges the DoJ and AG is in violation of the First and Fourth Amendments to the Constitution (tl;dr the law is an ass).
This to-do is all to do with something called the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) -- from waaay back in 1986, when your humble blogwatcher was listening to Depeche Mode and flaming people on Usenet. This pre-Web law allows judges to order indefinite secrecy, given criteria that aren't exactly terrifically well defined, argues Microsoft.
So Microsoft is taking it to federal court. If this sounds to you like the nuclear option, well you might be right. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers duck and cover.
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