Update: Microsoft has dropped the copyright complaint against Cryptome, ReadWriteWeb reports. The site will be back up at its permanent home later today.

Earlier: Microsoft (MSFT) sent a letter to whistleblower site Cryptome demanding it take down a leaked copy of the company's "Global Criminal Compliance Handbook".

The document is a guide for law enforcement agencies explaining what private data Microsoft stores, and how law enforcement should go about requesting it. Cryptome has published similar guides from Facebook, AOL, Skype, and other tech companies.

See highlights here >

Demanding Cryptome take the do down, Microsoft is asserting that the document is copyrighted material under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The tech giant has successfully spooked Cryptome's host, Network Solutions, which has threatened to disable the site if the document is not taken down by Thursday.

Law enforcement needs search warrants or court orders to access any of this data, and Microsoft is legally required to comply with such requests. But it is not required to provide extensive details about what is stored how to governments while keeping that information hidden from users. Many companies make their compliance policies public. Others take it on the chin when their private policies become public.

Using a bogus copyright claim to try to keep users in the dark about what it's doing with their data is inexcusable.

You can read the entire document below, or see some of the highlights here.

Update: Network Solutions has taken Cryptome down. It has found a temporary home here.

Microsoft Spy