Reply to post: It's retroactive whichever way you cut it

It's retroactive whichever way you cut it

The law that was in force when the relevant data was created and stored did not enable US law enforcement to get their hands on that data (without a warrant).

The CLOUD Act purports to reach a different conclusion on the basis of the same set of facts. That's retroactive under any interpretation.

There would be no retroactivity (in the context of the US legal system) if the new law only applied to data created and stored after the CLOUD Act came into force. But that is clearly not the case here.

Then there is that pesky issue of Irish and EU laws. Those laws have not changed and require US law enforcement to produce a warrant if it wants to get its hands on the data in question. Whilst the CLOUD Act purports to enable US law enforcement officials to side-step this requirement, that Act is unquestionably irrelevant to the interpretation and enforcement of pre-existing Irish and EU laws... which will continue to require a warrant.

Set against this context, one has to question the US government's strategy in this case. I mean, why go to such extraordinary lengths (a protracted legal battle with Microsoft, drafting and passing the CLOUD Act, etc.) when the option of obtaining a warrant was there all along?