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The NAM filed an amicus brief in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington on behalf of Microsoft Inc. in its litigation against the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) attempts to search Microsoft customer’s data. DOJ’s violated Microsoft customers’ privacy, and DOJ’s use of Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) gag orders violates the Constitution. The DOJ sought to search data belonging to Microsoft customers without a warrant and used the ECPA to impose a gag order to bar third-party service providers from notifying customers that the government had sought access to the data. The NAM’s brief argued that the DOJ's actions violated the First and Fourth Amendments to the Constitution and that the benefits of cloud computing will not be fully realized if private information receives diminished legal protections. In a win for manufacturers, the court granted Microsoft’s motion to dismiss.