Microsoft is refusing to turn over emails that are stored in a Dublin data center on the order of a New York district judge.

Judge Loretta Preska originally granted the request of the government to move ahead with retrieval of emails stored abroad by Microsoft. But she delayed the request so that Redmond could appeal the decision. Now, both sides have until Sept. 5 to "confer and inform the court ... as to how they propose to proceed," she said, according to court documents.

A Microsoft spokesperson said: "Microsoft will not be turning over the email and plans to appeal."

Microsoft chief privacy officer Brendon Lynch wrote: "We believe your email belongs to you, not us, and that it should receive the same privacy protection as paper letters sent by mail—no matter where it is stored. While we appreciate the vital importance of public safety, we believe it's also important to strike the right balance with the privacy concerns of people who use technology."

The issue stems from Redmond's insistence that the same rules for a search warrant in the physical world should apply online.

Lynch pointed to a recently passed law in the U.K. that would "require tech companies to produce emails stored anywhere in the world. This would include emails stored in the U.S. by Americans who have never been to the U.K."