Quote:
Originally Posted by taustin
The judge didn't order anyone in Ireland to do anything. He ordered Microsoft in the United States to provide information accessible to Microsoft employees who live and work in the United States, and who can access that information without leaving the United States to do so and provide that information to the court.
He didn't ask. His order was valid under US law, and handed down to a US company, ordering people living in the US to perform actions that he is allowed to order them to perform under US law.
What is so difficult to understand about this? There is no single action that will not break the law. Microsoft is caught between conflicting laws. They cannot obey all the laws that apply. To obey Irish law, they must violate US law. To obey US law, they must violate Irish law. That is the point. There is a conflict in the laws of the two countries, and Microsoft is caught up in it, and can't do anything about it. They must break the law, because it is impossible for them to obey all laws.
Your position is that Irish law takes precedence over US law in a US court. That is a naïve position.
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MS exists both in the US and in Ireland at the same time. The data center where the information is stored is in Ireland, and under Irish jurisdiction. US courts have no business telling MS what to do with the data stored in Ireland.
And even though employees in the US could access the information, if employees in Ireland allow it they would be breaking the law, which means that MS would be breaking the law, which means that the US court can't ask MS to break Irish law in Ireland by giving the information to the US court.
There is a very simple action that will not result in breaking the law: the appeal succeeds, because the US court's order is not applicable in this situation since it does not have jurisdiction in Ireland.