Civil Society, Media, Tech Groups Back Microsoft Fight Against DOJ Gag Orders

Microsoft got support from dozens of civil society, law professors, media, technology and other business organizations in its fight against DOJ's use of gag orders to keep the company from informing customers about government warrants to access their emails and other records (see 1604140041 and 1604180039). Amazon, Apple, the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), Electronic Frontier Foundation, Google, Mozilla, The New York Times, Twitter and Yahoo filed several amici briefs Friday in U.S. District Court in Seattle. Microsoft filed a lawsuit in April against DOJ, which has been imposing gag orders through the Stored Communications Act, which is part of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. DOJ filed a motion to dismiss the suit July 22; Microsoft filed a response Aug. 26 and the government's response is due Sept. 23. Microsoft and various organizations said DOJ is violating the Constitution and continued use of gag orders would deter use of cloud computing. In one filing (in Pacer), 30 media organizations -- including The Associated Press, Fox News, Media Institute, Newspaper Association of America, Radio Television Digital News Association, Society of Professional Journalists and Washington Post -- said the gag orders violate the First Amendment and their reporting would be "impeded or curtailed completely" when companies are prevented from disclosing information about government searches. "That harm is even greater when those gag orders are indefinite," the filing said. Another filing (in Pacer) from a coalition of 15 diverse organizations -- including CDT, the Information Coalition, National Association of Manufacturers and U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- also said the government's use of gag orders "significantly" curtails privacy protections. They said if the government's view of gag order authority prevails, people and businesses will be "reluctant to take advantage" of cloud computing due to reduced privacy protection, "and society may lose the substantial cost-saving and efficiency gains." Another filing from major tech companies said DOJ's use of gag orders could invade Fourth Amendment privacy rights of customers, among other reasons. "There may well be some circumstances in which a narrowly tailored and time-limited gag order is justified, but the [Stored Communication] Act's authorization of gag orders sweeps far too broadly," it said. A Justice spokesman declined to comment Tuesday.