Microsoft receives support from Irish government

The Irish government has taken the unusual step of filing a supporting legal brief to the Microsoft case as the giant IT company battles an order to hand over private emails stored on an Irish server.

The government has used the 'amicus curiae' (friend of the court) rules to file a submission to a case in which it is not directly involved. It is backing the Microsoft argument that it need not hand over emails requested through a New York court warrant. The emails have been requested in relation to a drug trafficking investigation.