Comment Re:A larger legal question arises here (Score 1) 749
believe that Microsoft is right to claim the US government doesn't have jurisdiction over data stored outside of the United States.
This is actually very simple. When you have a presence in a county, you are subject to that country's laws. Period. End of discussion. If you find yourself in a situation where you are subject to two countries' laws, and you are required by one of those countries to break the laws of the other, you must do one of the following:
1) Break one country's laws and abide by the other's laws, and accept the consequences.
2) Negotiate with/bribe one or both countries, and see if an agreement can be reached.
3) Leave one of the countries with conflicting laws, probably abandoning whatever property is within that country.
Microsoft is clearly wrong, and its lawyers know it. Any company with a U.S. presence is subject to U.S. laws, just as any company with, say, a British presence is subject to British laws. If the two conflict, one or more of the listed choices must be made. It doesn't matter if what the Government wants is located in another country. If the company wants to continue operating in the U.S., it must comply with U.S. law.