Last stand? Microsoft fights a U.S. warrant for the future of the cloud [Video]

Microsoft and other tech giants are battling the U.S. government over the right to see email stored on foreign servers

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Microsoft is challenging a federal search warrant that targets private email communications located in the company’s facility in Dublin, Ireland. Microsoft took this action to a higher court after a judge quashed the company’s opposition to the warrant in April.

It’s an important case that could determine the direction of the cloud for years. That’s why Apple, AT&T, Cisco Systems, and Verizon have all filed briefs in support of Microsoft. Google and Amazon Web Services are likely keeping a close watch on this case too.

The issue, of course, is not about the specific emails but the bounds of a country’s jurisdiction in the cloud, which by its nature isn’t in any one nation. Basically, if Microsoft is a U.S. company, do U.S. laws apply to its customer data, even when it exists outside of the United States in company-owned entities? …