Google stands firm in the face of government subpoena

And online privacy advocates are warning that the demand sets a dangerous precedent. E-Brief News reports that US Attorney-General Alberto Gonzales filed a legal motion in San Jose last week to enforce a subpoena requesting Google hand over a week\'s worth of data on online searches. The Justice Department argues that it needs the data to defend the constitutionality of the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) in a federal court in Pennsylvania. Federal lawyers want the information from Google to back an argument that the law is a more effective tool than software filters in keeping children from getting access to adult-only Web sites. But Google hit back, saying the demand is \'overreaching\' and \'a violation of trade secrets\'. Privacy watchdogs are concerned about the enormous amount of data that Google has assembled about the online behaviour of Internet users. The company keeps log files that record search terms used, Web sites visited and the Internet Protocol address and browser type of the computer for every search conducted through its Web site. AustralianIT reports that the Justice Department demanded that Google provide all queries entered on the company\'s Web search system between June 1 and July 31 of last year. It also includes a request for Google to produce a random sample of one million Web addresses. A 2004 US Supreme Court decision, Ashcroft vs ACLU, upheld an injunction that blocked the government from enforcing the law. The Justice Department is seeking evidence from Google and others as part of an appeal of this injunction. Full AustralianIT report

The ACLU says Web sites cannot realistically comply with COPA and that the law violates the right to freedom of speech mandated by the First Amendment. CNET News reports that the search engine companies are not parties to the suit. An attorney for the ACLU said Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL received identical subpoenas and chose to comply with them rather than fight the request in court. Yahoo acknowledged that it complied with the Justice Department\'s request but said no personally identifiable information was handed over. AOL spokesperson Andrew Weinstein confirmed that the company received a subpoena from the DOJ but said the information from the ACLU was not accurate. \'We did not and would not comply with such a subpoena. We gave (the DOJ) a generic list of aggregate and anonymous search terms, and not results, from a roughly one day period. There were absolutely no privacy implications,\' Weinstein said. \'There was no way to tie those search terms to individuals or to search results.\' A Microsoft representative said: \'MSN works closely with law enforcement officials worldwide to assist them when requested. It is our policy to respond to legal requests in a very responsive and timely manner, in full compliance with applicable law.\' Full CNET News report

The stand-off has resonated in the online world, not only because of its privacy implications, but because it goes to the heart of what has spurred the Internet to such prodigious growth. The Washington Post reports that online pornography, a $2.5bn business and growing rapidly, pioneered such now-commonplace practices as streaming video, trading files and making online purchases. By comparison, sales of music downloads totalled $1.1bn last year. Pornography is a murky industry to track. A quick search on the term \'porn\' turns up 41.2 million hits on Google, compared with 194 million for \'iPod\' – and 551 million for the word \'blog\'. Full report in The Washington Post

Meanwhile, the FBI has told a senate panel that no more new laws are needed to deal with online child pornography, insisting existing prohibitions are more than adequate to prosecute kiddie porn purveyors. \'The laws are pretty well defined,\' James Burris, deputy assistant director of the FBI\'s Criminal Investigative Division told the Senate Commerce Committee. \'We have arrested thousands of predators who would use the Internet to entice children into exploitive situations.\' InternetNews reports that Burris accepted that child pornography was a \'big problem,\' noting that the Internet has facilitated an overall growth industry in pornography. Full InternetNews report