Microsoft reverses, vows not to snoop on emails

A week after saying it was justified in snooping through a blogger's Hotmail account to track down a leaker of company software, Microsoft has changed course, saying it will refer such matters to law enforcement starting immediately.

The reversal, explained by general counsel Brad Smith in a blog post Friday, follows last week's revelation that it searched through emails and instant messages of a blogger who Microsoft believed had received proprietary code illegally.

The search, in 2012, led to Alex Kibkalo, a Russian native who worked for Microsoft as a software architect in Lebanon. Microsoft turned over the case to the FBI in July 2013.

Smith now says the company "will not inspect a customer's private content ourselves" and will refer the matter to law enforcement if action is needed.