A hearing on U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' attempt to compel Google to turn over search records to the U.S. Department of Justice has been postponed until March 14.

The hearing in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, in San Jose, had been set for Feb. 27. In an order filed Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge James Ware pushed the date back without explanation.

The Justice Department subpoenaed records from several search engine companies to bolster its argument that a federal law is more effective than filtering software for protecting Internet users under 18 from viewing pornography. AOL, Microsoft's MSN and Yahoo all complied with the subpoena to some degree, but Google refused to provide the records. Gonzales filed a motion in the court in San Jose to compel Google, based in Mountain View, Calif., to comply.

Google now has until Feb. 17 to file its response to Gonzales' motion, and the Justice Department has until Feb. 24 to reply to what Google files. Third parties filing "friend of the court" briefs also have until Feb. 24.

The Justice Department is defending the Child Online Protection Act in a 1998 suit by the American Civil Liberties Union, which says the law violates the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment right to freedom of speech.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.