The issue focused on $9.4 million in California tax revenue that had been misappropriated to pay for police cars, mobile electronic devices and computer systems.

In the case of software technology, Bill McManus, a Microsoft senior vice president and general counsel, said "we will not support anything that shortens or adds another layer of layers" to software as part of any effort to track phone users.

He also noted that software technologies have become so advanced that customers can now build apps that