Reprinted with permission from FindLaw.com
Foreigners can be protected by the Electronic Communications
Privacy Act (ECPA). The parts of the ECPA that prevent ISP's
from revealing electronic communications apply to foreigners when
their emails are stored on a domestic server, the Ninth Circuit has
ruled.
In Suzlon Energy v. Microsoft, the plaintiff had
directed a subpoena to Microsoft seeking the substance of emails
between a citizen of India with respect to fraud litigation in
Australia. Microsoft did not comply with the subpoena, taking the
position that to do so would violate the ECPA. The federal trial
court agreed and quashed the subpoena.
The case went up on appeal to the Ninth Circuit. A unanimous
appellate panel decided that the statutory language of ECPA extends
its protections to the Indian citizen. The Ninth Circuit reasoned
that if Congress had intended to limit the application of the
statute to citizens of the United States only, Congress would
