The Obama administration has ordered Microsoft and others not to speak about it’s searches and it’s demands for information by the Justice Department from Microsoft and many. many other companies and individuals. The DOJ is clearly forbidden by the First Amendment to order people not to speak The relevant part of the First Amendment is: “Congress shall make no law ……abridging freedom of speech.” So Microsoft is suing the Justice Department in Federal Court.
SILENCING ORDERS
From the Microsoft Lawsuit: “Over the past 18 months, federal courts have issued nearly 2,600 secrecy orders silencing Microsoft from speaking about warrants and other legal process seeking Microsoft customers’ data; of those, more than two-thirds contained no fixed end date. (In fact, of the twenty-five secrecy orders issued to Microsoft by judges in this District, none contained a time limit.) These twin developments—the increase in government demands for online data and the simultaneous increase in secrecy—have combined to undermine confidence in the privacy of the cloud and have impaired Microsoft’s right to be transparent with its customers, a right guaranteed by the First Amendment.”
More companies and individuals should join Microsoft in it’s efforts to have the Federal Government abide by the Constitution.
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