Lady Gaga interviewed by Google's Marissa Mayer in March 2011.

Now that it’s fall, Google has reportedly been telling labels that its music store, and possibly subscription service (not to be confused with Google Music Beta locker), will launch by the end of 2011.

This would constitute the third in a string of music announcements from Google this year, which conventional wisdom dictated wasn’t interested in music — in part because founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page weren’t big music fans.

Somethin...

Far-reaching privacy legislation introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) remains stalled for lack of GOP support.

Five months ago, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) introduced a bill to update the nation’s privacy laws to protect citizen’s data stored in the cloud from warrantless searches. The move was backed by tech powerhouses including Google and Microsoft, though law enforcement opposes restricting their power to easily get data in Gmail and Hotmail.

Five months later, the bill remains in the ether, without a hearing, for the lack of a single Republican...