According to the law currently on the books, email stored for more than 180 days in a hosting environment – including on so-called “cloud” servers like those of Hotmail or Gmail – is considered “abandoned” and can be obtained without a warrant. Efforts to rectify this mid-1980s legislative situation are being actively opposed by the Obama administration, who apparently feel that due process is a bit of a hassle and would rather not deal with the realities of how people now use email.