Microsoft seeks to block U.S. from accessing email overseas

Microsoft has gotten a chilly reaction from federal appeals judges to its claims that the United States should not be able to touch data it stores for customers overseas.

Microsoft lawyer E. Joshua Rosenkranz argued Wednesday before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City.

He asked the panel to overturn a lower court judge ruling that the Redmond, Washington-based company must turn over a customer’s email account that it stores in Dublin for a narcotics probe.

Circuit Judge Gerard Lynch seemed unfazed by Rosenkranz’s predictions of “global chaos” if the United States’ actions caused other countries to seek information stored in the U.S.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Anderson says the U.S. properly followed the law.