If Ireland/The EU are serious - really serious - about protecting their citizens and their sovereignty then they need to be utterly unambiguous. They need to say, straight-up, that if MS Ireland hands over the data directly to the DOJ then that will be in breach of Irish and EU laws and their fine will be $X and their punishment Y.
MS are in a difficult situation* to be sure but they need to be encouraged to fight this as hard as they can. Not that they aren't, but in the end, it is MS's decision to be in Ireland so it is their responsibility to deal with any conflicts that arise from that arrangement.
I really don't know what the DOJ is playing at here. It almost feels like some kind of bully-boy posturing that got out of hand and now they can't back down.
If they 'win', it will certainly set a dangerous precedent that will have wide-reaching ramifications for large portions of the tech world, but if they lose they (the DOJ) will view it as a very embarrasing precedent against them that expressly limits the power they seem to believe is absolute and all-encompassing.
* - You'd feel sorry for them if they weren't a big tech company operating through Ireland for the sole reason tax avoidance.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
