Judge to Order Google to Turn Over Records

Google Inc.'s legal showdown with the Bush administration over the right to protect the privacy of its audience and trade secrets appears to be tilting in the Internet search engine's favor, even though a federal judge has signaled he will order the company to turn over some records to the government.

U.S. District Court Judge James Ware repeatedly emphasized his sensitivity to Google's concerns during a Tuesday court hearing. It concluded with Ware saying he intends to give the U.S. Justice Department a peek at a sliver of the online search engine leader's vast database.

Just how much information Google will be required to share won't be known until Ware issues his written ruling, which he said he intends to do very quickly.

"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.
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In August 1998, Judge Ware was reprimanded by the Judicial Council of the Northern District Court of California for misrepresenting himself as the brother of a boy killed by racists in Alabama in 1963.

The reason the Google case is before Judge Ware is that the government wants to crack down on internet pornography, and childrens' abilibity to access such material. This sounds subversive, though I believe that kids shouldn't be exposed to such. Anyway, Judge Ware recently presided over Acacia Media Technologies Corp. v. New Destiny Internet Group. In this case Judge Ware sided with the adult industry regarding the use of specific media formats...

Not only that, but back in 2004, Judge Ware heard USA v. Michael Anthony Bradley. The indictment charged Bradley with extortion and wire fraud in connection with a software program he claimed could allow spammers to defraud Google of millions of dollars.

AND, on April 3, 2006 at 1:30pm, Judge Ware is scheduled to preside over a Further Trial setting Conference in the case of USA v. Jose Luis Padilla. [I talked with Judge Ware's Docket Clerk and she isn't sure if this is the 'dirty bomb/Al Qaeda' suspect, but she did tell me that it is an 'illegal entry' case...]