Microsoft held in contempt, will get an appeal against US government order

Microsoft has been held in contempt in not complying with a warrant by the United States government while also being rejected an attempt to appeal on July 31, 2014.

It’s hard to understand why Microsoft has to get a contempt of court in order to get an appeal but the words in this document, explain why, “While Microsoft continues to believe that a contempt order is not required to perfect an appeal, it agrees that the entry of an order of contempt would eliminate any jurisdictional issues on appeal. Thus, while reserving its rights to appeal any contempt order and the underlying July 31 ruling, Microsoft concurs with the Government that entry of such an order will avoid delays and facilitate a prompt appeal in this case.”

As for the reason for being held in contempt, the order from the United States government involved wanting to look at data stored on a server located in Ireland, which the company believed was out of the jurisdiction of the warrant.

Even though this order seems rather procedural, the company seems to be taking a strong stance on the problem, in being held in contempt. That said, almost every company in the technology industry is behind Microsoft for this case.

Strangely enough, even though Microsoft is being held in contempt, the court isn’t seeking an immediate penalty either.

But that’s not all – Microsoft continues to act in a manner which will ensure that it will get its appeal against the order.