Microsoft removed and then replaced a reference to its work for the US government's immigration authorities in the wake of a national outcry over a new policy of separating children from their asylum-seeking parents at the border. Back in January, Microsoft published a blog post that covered new contracts it had signed with …

Microsoft is suing the US government to prevent the deportation of immigrants – including at least 45 of its own staffers – who are in America under the now-dying DACA program. The Redmond giant has signed on to a lawsuit filed by Princeton University on behalf of one of its students seeking an injunction against the …

The technology industry exploded with anger today after President Trump announced an end to a program that has given 800,000 young adults the right to live and work in the United States. "We are deeply disappointed ... this is a big step back for our entire country," wrote Microsoft president Brad Smith in a blog post …

Analysis As you enter the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC, you step back in time. Abraham Lincoln stayed here just prior to his inauguration; Martin Luther King made the final edits to his most famous speech in its lobby; and Alexander Graham Bell used as it as the venue to demonstrate a coast-to-coast telephone call. On Tuesday, …

Tech goliaths Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft are planning to take a stand against the Trump Administration's hardline immigration policy ... because their bottom line demands it. Having sidled up to King Donald in New York City before he took over as US president, tech CEOs have stayed mostly quiet during two of the …

Microsoft's president and chief legal officer Brad Smith wants to let the politicians decide, when it comes to the tricky balance between privacy, security and technology. Speaking at the opening ceremony of RightsCon in San Francisco, Smith trod a careful line in front of the audience of digital rights activists, praising …

Sketch It used to be that the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Swiss ski resort of Davos was all about finance and politics. But since it turned out that the bankers were almost exactly as corrupt and incompetent as the small cadre of protesters that stood in the snow every year insisted they were, finance has …

Microsoft has published what can only be described as a privacy manifesto. The unusual online screed comes complete with interactive graphics, including a recording of the FISA court's voicemail, and appears geared at pitching Microsoft as the protector of people's global data. Written by president and chief legal officer …

Microsoft top legal beagle Brad Smith has been promoted to president of the company, marking the first time Redmond has had a company-wide president since 2002. Smith's expanded role also sees him taking the title of chief legal officer, an upgrade from his previous position as Microsoft's general counsel. In an internal memo …

Microsoft has today performed a second volte-face in the Hotmail scanning scandal, and this time it looks serious. There was uproar after the software giant revealed it had rummaged through a blogger's Hotmail inbox to snare an employee who had allegedly leaked pre-release Windows 8 software. Microsoft runs Hotmail as part of …

Microsoft is teaming up with rival Google in legal action against the US government after talks to allow the companies to tell their users if they are being spied upon broke down. "There are many days when Microsoft and Google stand apart. But today our two companies stand together," said Redmond's general counsel Brad Smith …

Google bid $900m for Nortel patents on Monday, as its defence against rising Android litigation. The search giant now needs to compete with Apple, Nokia and Microsoft in an aggressive intellectual property rights (IPR) power play. When Google emerged as the stalking horse bidder for Nortel's huge patents hoard, it indicated …

Microsoft has made a formal complaint against Google to the European Commission accusing the search and advertising giant of using various illegal methods to dominate the European search market. Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, is likely best known to Reg readers for his role in protecting the software giant against …

Yes, Microsoft turned up at today's dueling Congressional hearings on the Google ad pact with Yahoo!. Redmond senior vice president and general counsel Brad Smith told both the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Antitrust and the House Judiciary Committee Antitrust Task Force that Goo-Hoo! is one bad idea. "The effect …