Re: UK not much better (in the quality of its arguments)
"But, in this case, we are talking about Irish servers, owned by an Irish company on Irish soil, which just happens to be owned by an American company."
Right, though I'm not sure why you say "but"; my observation was that the UK governement's view on extra-terratorial jurisdiction prima facie supports the US DoJ's position in this case. In fact it seems even broader/more extreme: according to UK government's reasoning the US DoJ should still legally be able to require data to be handed over even if Microsoft itself were registered in Ireland, Iceland or Switzerland etc., (regardless, it seems, of the views or laws of the countries in which the data were held, or the companies were registered).
Of course I am not saying that the UK government or US DoJ are right here (and my earlier comment alluldes to some sleight-of-hand in the UK government's amicus brief), just that the US DoJ is not unique in its attitude to extra-terratorial jurisdiction: other "civilised" countries make similar, or stronger, claims.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
