Google Inc. is adopting new privacy measures to make it more difficult to connect online search requests with the people making them - a move it believes could prevent showdowns with the government over the often sensitive data.

Under revisions announced late Wednesday, Google promised to wrap a cloak of anonymity around the vast amounts of information that the Mountain View-based company regularly collects about its millions of users around the world.

Google believes it can provide more assurances of privacy by removing key pieces of identifying information from its system every 18 to 24 months. The timetable is designed to comply with a hodgepodge of laws around the world that dictate how long search engines are supposed to retain user information.

Authorities still could demand to review personal information before Google purges it or take legal action seeking to force the company to keep the data beyond the new time limits.

Nevertheless, Google’s additional safeguards mark the first time that a major Internet search engine has spelled out precisely how long it will hold onto data that can reveal intimate details about a person’s Web surfing habits.

If you’re going to be a software counterfeiter, then please copy and illegally use Microsoft products.

The above plea isn’t from a posting on a hacker forum. Rather, it’s how Microsoft business group president Jeff Raikes feels about software counterfeiters. “If they’re going to pirate somebody, we want it to be us rather than somebody else,” Raikes said.

The remarks might seem surprising, coming from a senior executive at a software company that spends millions each year fighting software piracy and developing copyright protection technologies.

But Raikes, speaking last week at the Morgan Stanley Technology conference in San Francisco, said a certain amount of software piracy actually helps Microsoft because it can lead to purchases by individuals who otherwise might never have been exposed to the company’s products.

Bill Gates last week asked Washington to up the supply of H-1B visas available to U.S. companies. He failed to mention that Microsoft and other American tech giants will ship hundreds of thousands of more jobs overseas if the visa cap isn’t raised.

Here’s a fact: U.S. tech companies in the years ahead are going to dramatically increase the percentage of foreign born professionals on their payrolls.

If you believe the industry, it’s because they can’t find enough domestic IT pros to fill their needs. If you believe groups like the Programmers Guild, it’s because they want to replace expensive American workers with lower paid foreigners.

Truth is, the why doesn’t matter. The globalization of America’s technology workforce is already happening and it will continue to do so–at an increasing rate.

Microsoft, the world’s biggest software company, is launching a string of court actions in the United States and Europe against cybersquatters, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

Cybersquatting is the practice of using an internet domain name — such as the misspelt “micrsoft.com” — to profit from the popularity of another company’s brand.

Many cybersquatters make money from web traffic which accidentally comes to their site from people looking for a well-known brand or by selling their domain name back to the trademark owner.

Microsoft is launching lawsuits in the US against companies which it claims have registered trademarks which infringe its intellectual property and also plans court actions in Britain, Germany and Italy, the FT said.

The firm hopes that other companies will follow its example.

Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday said its Live online service, which has attracted 6 million Xbox 360 console gamers, will be open in May to PC gamers who use its new Windows Vista operating system.

The move comes nearly a year after Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said the company’s vision was for “anywhere” gaming that would link video game consoles, cell phones and computers, and is a key step toward reaching that goal.

The PC version of Live will debut on May 8 with the launch of the Windows Vista version of “Halo 2,” Microsoft’s popular alien shooter game.

In June, Microsoft Game Studios will release “Shadowrun,” the first game where Live will support competition between players on the Xbox 360 and PCs.

A new service is taking personal taste in music to another level by combining elements of Internet radio, portable music and satellite distribution.

A startup led by a team of veterans in the digital music arena seeks to offer “personal radio” that lets users choose the tunes, genres or artists they want, and listen to them on the go.

Slacker Inc., based in San Diego, launched its radio service Wednesday, making its Web site, http://www.slacker.com , available in a beta, or testing, stage.

A separate Wi-Fi-enabled pocketable gadget that will be able to play the personalized selections will be available in the early summer, with models ranging roughly from $150 to $299, the company said. A car kit that will deliver the music via satellite signals will be available later in the year at a price yet to be disclosed.

Here’s how it works:

Users who log on to Slacker can begin listening to music from more than 10,000 stations that are built around specific artists and preprogrammed genres. Users also can create their own stations by indicating what types of songs they want and letting the Slacker “DJ” - a mostly automated system based on complicated algorithms - fill out the station program with more content.

Users also will be able to e-mail their friends with their favorite stations.

After the Slacker players become available, users will be able to have their personal radio stations delivered to the portable devices. (Slacker says it will push radio tracks to the portable players or car kits, on which they’ll be stored for playback. The gadgets will not have to be connected to a wireless network for playback, the company said. They’ll refresh the music data whenever the devices detect a Wi-Fi or satellite connection.)

The basic Slacker radio service is ad-supported and free. A premium level of service that is set to launch in the second quarter will cost $7.50 per month, eliminate advertising and give users more flexibility and features.