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Microsoft has seen its share of legal proceedings throughout recent years, answering charges alleging antitrust violation, copyright infringement and just about everything in between.

This lawsuit, however, may take the proverbial cake.

A Massachusetts man has filed suit against the Redmond-based software company seeking compensatory and punitive damages stemming from, what the plaintiff asserts, breeches and data security and the failure of Internet Explorer to keep delete his browsing history and keep his Internet habits private.

The FBI raided this home of Michael Alan Crooker in 2004 amid reports that he was manufacturing resin, a substance commonly used in the process of constructing homemade explosives. As part of the raid, the FBI confiscated Crooker’s laptop and sent it back to the organization’s Cryptologic and Electronic Analysis group, which was eventually able to circumvent the notebook’s encryption software.

What FBI agents found on Crooker’s hard drive was a variety of pornography ranging from self-made sex videos to cached adult websites. The embarrassment stemming from this discovery is what prompted the suit against Microsoft.

Matt Mandok at Ars Technica has more:

In the lawsuit, Crooker argues that Internet Explorer was set to delete his browsing history after five days, but the software failed to do so. "Any day beyond those parameters is supposed to be permanently deleted and is not supposed to be recoverable," he said. While Crooker's claim against Internet Explorer may be valid, the bigger problem seems to be that Circuit City assured him when he purchased the PC in 2004 that Windows XP, Internet Explorer, and a barrage of other security products would keep his information totally secure.

All told, Crooker is looking to hit up Microsoft for $200,000 in damages. I wonder, however, if there is any precedent for Microsoft to counter-sue on grounds of aggravated idiocy?

That, my friends, would be true justice.

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