Amazon hands over Echo data in murder case

The voice-activated Echo lets users control other smart home devices, play games and order products on Amazon's site. Amazon's mounting First Amendment battle has reached an anticlimactic end. The company agreed to hand over user data of an Amazon Echo speaker for a murder trial in Arkansas, after it spent months pushing back against a warrant for the information. Amazon changed its position after the user, defendant James Andrew Bates, consented to the disclosure, according to a court filing that was made public Monday. Before Bates consented, Amazon just last month offered a strong defense against releasing the user information, with the company saying Bates' audio recordings with the Echo were protected under the First Amendment.