Today, Microsoft joined with a number of other leading technology companies to file a legal brief in support of Apple, as the company fights an FBI request to unlock an encrypted iPhone that belonged to one of the shooters in the terrible act of terrorism that took place in December in San Bernardino. While the companies that signed this brief are often fierce competitors, our unity with Amazon.com, Box, Cisco, Read more »
Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith confirmed that Microsoft supports Apple in their current legal case with the FBI and will file a legal brief in support next week. Smith was responding to a question from Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-California, during a U.S. House Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday. Smith made the point that the primary statutory language the government is relying on in Apple’s case was passed Read more »
Today I appeared as a witness before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee Hearing on “International Conflicts of Law and their Implications for Cross Border Data Requests by Law Enforcement.” You can see my opening statement to the Committee below, and read my written testimony on the Judiciary Committee website. In my testimony I made the case that the increasing use by governments of unilateral legal process – rather than international Read more »
Tomorrow, Thursday, Feb. 25, I’ll be testifying before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee Hearing on “International Conflicts of Law and their Implications for Cross Border Data Requests by Law Enforcement.” I’ll be on a panel with Michael Chertoff, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder, The Chertoff Group; David Kris, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Intellectual Ventures; and Jennifer Daskal, Assistant Professor, American University Washington College of Law. Before this panel, David Read more »
Katy McClintic, a senior at Western Washington University, is set to receive her degree this June in computer science, with a minor in mathematics. And she’s already accepted a job offer to start as a program manager at Microsoft. She’s thrilled at how far she’s come, but it wasn’t always easy. “Getting a computer science degree is time-intensive and stressful at times,” she says. But along the way Katy found Read more »
Accessibility is top of mind at Microsoft when we think about living our mission. In the past few months, we have outlined commitments that will guide our progress as a company and announced a number of organizational investments to make our products more accessible and better serve people with disabilities. I know I speak for the entire accessibility leadership team at Microsoft when I say that we’re excited about the Read more »
In 1976, as the U.S. Congress was in the midst of major overhaul of copyright law, it commissioned a thorough study of emerging uses of computers, recognizing the public benefit that would accrue from promise of widespread computing. That study ultimately led Congress to codify copyright protection for software, while also implementing several important exceptions to balance interests among consumers, creators and technology companies. Forty years later, this careful balance Read more »
Today is Safer Internet Day, an international day of action to promote safer, more responsible use of technology and services, particularly among children and young people. In 2016, as with the last decade-plus of Safer Internet Days, Microsoft is taking part in numerous activities on multiple continents. Here in the U.S., we’ll kick off a series of training events at Microsoft stores to arm individuals and families with important information Read more »
Today, President Barack Obama called for a new national effort to give all American students the opportunity to learn computer science in school – in short, Computer Science for All. As a company, we at Microsoft support the president’s call to action, and we hope that leaders in both parties will use 2016 to find common ground and make this opportunity a reality for the nation’s students. As a company, Read more »
Today we’re announcing new steps to strengthen Microsoft’s work to make our products more accessible and better serve people with disabilities. As we’ve discussed over the past year, accessibility is core to our mission of empowering every person and organization on the planet to achieve more, and we are committed to delivering great technologies that enable people to lead richer lives. Today’s steps build on the initiatives we’ve pursued over Read more »
