The United States government has asked the supreme court to dismiss its case against Microsoft Corporation over access to data stored outside the country by the technology giant.
President Donald Trump on March 22, signed a provision into law, saying U.S. judges can issue warrants for such data, though it gave companies the provision to object if the request contravenes foreign law.
“This case is now moot,” the U.S. Department of Justice said, citing the newly passed legislation in a 16-page court filing on Friday that requested the dismissal.
The Court in February heard arguments in the case, which had reportedly been one of the most closely monitored cases in the country’s highest court.
Some justices had urged the Congress to pass a law to resolve the matter.
Microsoft and the Justice Department had been locked in a dispute over how U.S. prosecutors seek access to data held on overseas computer servers owned by American companies.
The company had challenged a domestic warrant issued by a U.S. judge for emails stored on its server in Dublin, Ireland, relating to a drug-trafficking investigation.
A customer, whose emails were sought in the case told the company he was based in Ireland when he signed up for the account.
The new bipartisan law, known as the ‘Cloud Act’, was supported by Microsoft and other major technology companies, but opposed by civil liberties groups for lack of sufficient privacy protections.
However, Microsoft, which has 100 data centers in 40 countries, was the first American company to challenge a domestic search warrant seeking data held outside the United States.
Ashaolu Oluwafemi
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