By Michael Liedtke THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN JOSE, Calif. – A federal judge said yesterday he intends to order Google Inc. to turn over some of its Internet records to the U.S. Justice Department, but expressed reservations about requiring the company to divulge some of its most sensitive data – the actual requests that people enter into its popular search engine.
U.S. District Judge James Ware told the Justice Department it can expect to get at least some of the information sought from Google as part of the Bush administration’s effort to revive a law meant to shield children from online pornography.
But Ware stressed he was “particularly concerned” about the Justice Department’s demand for a random sample of search requests entered into Google’s Internet-leading search engine.
The judge said he didn’t want to do anything to create the perception that Internet search engines and other large online databases could become tools for government surveillance. He seemed less concerned about requiring Google to supply the government with a random list of Web sites indexed by the company.
Ware said he planned to issue a written ruling quickly.
After the 90-minute hearing, Google attorney Nicole Wong said the company was pleased with Ware’s thoughtful questions.
Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller said the agency looks forward to Ware’s decision.
“We hope his opinion will demonstrate the government’s belief that this info would be helpful in protecting the nation’s youth against potentially harmful material,” he said.
During the hearing, another Google attorney, Albert Gidari, tried to persuade Ware that the government could get virtually all the information it wanted from publicly accessible services offered by Amazon.com Inc.’s Alexa.com and InfoSpace Inc.’s Dogpile.com.
T. Barton Carter, a communications and law professor at Boston University, said the concerns raised by Ware should be heartening to privacy rights advocates, but cautioned against reading too much into the judge’s comments until his written order.
“What’s going to be important is whether he limits the information [given to the government] and whether he explains why he drew the line where he did,” Carter said.
Investors seemed encouraged by yesterday’s developments as Google’s recently slumping stock price surged $14.10, or 4.2 percent, to close at $351.16 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Yesterday marked the first time that Google and the Justice Department have faced off in court over a government subpoena issued nearly seven months ago. The Justice Department initially wanted a breakdown of search requests and Web site addresses from Google for a study that the government believes will prove filtering software doesn’t prevent children from viewing sexually explicit material on the Internet.
