Doubling up
"Microsoft, meanwhile, said that it is hoping the matter could be resolved outside of the court, preferably with legislation."
You mean that legislation that already exists in the form of existing international treaties with Ireland which provide a mechanism for getting the information with co-operation of Irish law enforcement agencies?
I presume the suggestion is that there should be new US legislation allowing them to retrieve things held overseas without bothering to consult with that nation's government/law enforcement. Putting aside whether such a thing would be legal under international law (it wouldn't), it's also completely unnecessary. You could maybe try and make a case it were needed if foreign governments regularly refused to co-operate, but that never happens.
The only reasoning I can see here is that the DOJ and other US agencies don't want to have to go to the time and effort or dealing with foreign governments, but it seems to me in equivalent the time and cost taken on this legal case they could have made the proper international requests for several dozen warrants at least.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
