[JURIST] A federal court hearing to decide whether Google [corporate website] will be required to comply with a request from the US Department of Justice [official website] for extensive excerpts from its search log has been postponed until March 13. US District Court James Ware gave no explanation for the delay. Last month, the DOJ filed a motion [PDF text; JURIST report] to force Google to comply with a subpoena for its records to support its defense of the constitutionality of the Child Online Protection Act [text]. The DOJ has made similar requests to Yahoo, American Online and Microsoft, but only Google chose to challenge the subpoena in court. The government's request for these records has evoked considerable concern from privacy advocates and members of Congress. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) [official website] has asked for more details [JURIST report] concerning the request from Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) [official website] has said he will introduce legislation [press release] "to prohibit the storage of personally identifiable information on internet data bases beyond a reasonable period of time." CNET News has more.