Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has been given the green light to proceed with a legal challenge against the government of the United States by a federal court. This is in regards to a case filed by Microsoft in which the software company argues that the US government has been issuing unconstitutional gag orders.
Judge James Robart said Microsoft had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. The court said the orders issued by government agencies so as to prevent Microsoft from informing the customer of investigations is in violation of its rights to speech.
The Judge upheld the First Amendment rights in a ruling delivered on Thursday. The judge; however, declined its Fourth Amendment case against unwarranted and unreasonable searches and seizures, arguing that nullifying the precedent would require an order from a superior court.
“Microsoft alleges that indefinite nondisclosure orders implicate its First Amendment rights because the orders impinge on its right to speak about governmental affairs and the public’s right to access search warrants,” said Robart in his ruling.
The software giant filed the case in April of 2016 in which it argued that the government should be restrained from preventing the company from sharing their information with customers when their information is shared with government agencies for investigative purposes.
These gag orders can be used in cases where national security is at risk, such as terrorism investigations, but are often used for low-level cases and non-national security related matters.
In a case files filed by several organizations including Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), Fox News, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), many of the gag orders were indefinite meaning the affected will permanently barred from sharing such information to anyone affected.
For the case of Microsoft, the company had around 2,600 different secrecy orders.
Microsoft’s chief legal officer applauded the ruling saying they are ready to move the case forward for as to get a reasonable and lasting solution that works to enforce the law and ensure secrecy is only applied when necessary. Department of Justice spokesperson was not immediately available for a comment.
Microsoft’s stock closed at $64.06, after going up 1.14% or $0.72 per share.