"They wouldn't have to fight if they didn't keep this information in the first place," he said.
Google said the government requests would put an undue burden on the company. But the motion offered to "compensate Google for its reasonable expenses," and noted that other companies did not report any compliance difficulties.
"We did not provide any personal information in response to the Department of Justice's subpoena," Yahoo spokeswoman Mary Osako wrote in an e-mail yesterday. "In our opinion, this is not a privacy issue. We complied on a limited basis and did not provide any personally identifiable information."
MSN said Microsoft Corp. "works closely with law-enforcement officials worldwide to assist them when requested," but did not address whether the Redmond, Wash., company provided the Justice Department with any information.
Andrew Weinstein, an AOL spokesman, said the Sterling, Va., company did receive a subpoena but provided the government with only a "list of aggregate, anonymous search terms from a roughly one-day period."