European leaders worry they’re too reliant on U.S. tech

European governments could also be reconsidering their use of American expertise and providers, in keeping with a new report in The New York Times.

The flashpoint appears to return after President Donald Trump sanctioned Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor on the Worldwide Felony Court docket, over the ICC’s choice to challenge arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former protection minister Yoav Gallant.

In response, Microsoft turned off Khan’s email address. Casper Klynge, a former diplomat who has additionally labored for Microsoft, informed the NYT that Microsoft’s motion turned “the smoking gun that many Europeans had been searching for,” pushing them to look at alternative options. (Some ICC employees have reportedly converted to Swiss electronic mail service Proton, for instance.)

“If the U.S. administration goes after sure organizations, international locations or people, the concern is American corporations are obligated to conform,” Klynge mentioned.

For its half, Microsoft mentioned it has subsequently made coverage modifications to guard clients comparable conditions, and it famous that it didn’t shut down the e-mail accounts of 4 ICC judges who Trump sanctioned earlier this month. As well as, simply this week, CEO Satya Nadella introduced new “sovereign options” to guard European establishments.