With technology being an interwoven part of society, why would anyone expect the government to not monitor internet use, e-mail, video conferences, SMS text messages and web surfing history? Before computers, the government monitored telephones. They still do today, but in different ways.
Microsoft is due credit for proactively tackling the constitutional issues, however it is possible they are doing this not to be "good guys", but to limit their liability by disclosing what information the government harvests from Microsoft customers.
A few years ago, I was involved with an organization www.PA-TEC.org, that was lobbying for better use of public funds for rail transit in Philadelphia. The group had sought numerous records from public agencies including a public transit operator and the Philadelphia area's metropolitan planning organization, DVRPC. The searches were a little more complicated than making photocopies, such as specific e-mail records. As it turned out, the more specific the requests were, the more the agencies complained about cost and their inability to produce the records. Amazing the games government plays to hide the truth.
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Don't be surprised
Microsoft is due credit for proactively tackling the constitutional issues, however it is possible they are doing this not to be "good guys", but to limit their liability by disclosing what information the government harvests from Microsoft customers.
Government is sneaky
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by Jon Frey, Richmond Computer.
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