The demonstrators, led by the People's Alliance for Democracy, accused police of protecting Thaksin and his loyalists against prosecution by stalling their investigations.

Thaksin was toppled in a bloodless military coup in 2006 following months of street protests led by the alliance. Critics accused the former leader of corruption and abuse of power.

Thaksin returned from exile earlier this year, vowing to clear his name in court.

More than 3,000 protesters gathered in front of the police headquarters in downtown Bangkok, near three of the country's most expensive shopping malls.

"I come to police headquarters to ask you why you have been sitting on the cases against Thaksin and his followers. These cases are moving nowhere," Sondhi Limthongkul, an alliance leader, shouted through a loudspeaker. "We are here to ask you to do your duty."

U.S. District Judge Louis L. Stanton authorized full access to the YouTube logs after Viacom Inc. and other copyright holders argued that they needed the data to show whether their copyright-protected videos are more heavily watched than amateur clips.

The data would not be publicly released but disclosed only to the plaintiffs, and it would include less specific identifiers than a user's real name or e-mail address.

Lawyers for Google Inc., which owns YouTube, said producing 12 terabytes of data — equivalent to the text of roughly 12 million books — would be expensive, time-consuming and a threat to users' privacy.

The database includes information on when each video gets played, which can be used to determine how often a clip is viewed. Attached to each entry is each viewer's unique login ID and the Internet Protocol, or IP, address for that viewer's computer.

Stanton ruled this week that the plaintiffs had a legitimate need for the information and that the privacy concerns are speculative.

Stanton rejected a request from the plaintiffs for Google to disclose the source code — the technical secret sauce — powering its market-leading search engine, saying there's no evidence Google manipulated its search algorithms to treat copyright-infringing videos differently.

Lenard said in a two-paragraph order that based on the government court filings, "there is a reasonable basis for believing such a group or class of persons may fail or may have failed to comply" with U.S. tax laws.

The summons will allow the IRS to obtain information about American taxpayers who have UBS accounts but did not file required forms detailing their taxable income.

"The order clears the way for the IRS to take the next steps against wealthy individuals who don't pay their taxes," said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman in a written statement. "People with hidden foreign accounts can no longer rest easy."

UBS has said it is cooperating with Swiss and U.S. investigations and will disclose records involving U.S. clients who might have broken tax laws.

"As we have noted, UBS takes this matter very seriously and is working diligently with both Swiss and U.S. government authorities, consistent with Swiss law and the legal frameworks for intergovernmental cooperation and assistance," UBS said in a statement Tuesday.

U.S. taxpayers are required to report all foreign financial accounts if their total value exceeds $10,000 at any point during a given year, prosecutors said. Failure to report the accounts can result in a penalty of up to 50 percent of the amount in the accounts.

The Justice Department requested the summons after former UBS private banker Bradley Birkenfeld, 43, pleaded guilty in a Florida federal court to defrauding the IRS. Birkenfeld, who is cooperating with investigators, said in court that UBS has about $20 billion in assets in undeclared accounts for U.S. taxpayers.

Prosecutors said Birkenfeld and others helped California billionaire Igor Olenicoff hide $200 million in assets overseas. Olenicoff, who controls a real estate empire, pleaded guilty last year to tax charges and agreed to pay the IRS more than $52 million.

The lead attorney for the plaintiffs on Wednesday called the governor's action unprecedented.

"I've never seen anything like this," said Florida lawyer Michael Papantonio. "This just further delineates how badly the deck is stacked in West Virginia against people trying to recover when they're taking on DuPont. It's stacked against people who have been wronged by corporate America."

The jury in Harrison County Circuit Court last fall awarded damages totaling nearly $400 million to residents living near the former plant in Spelter. The plaintiffs argued the chemical giant spent decades downplaying and lying about health threats from arsenic, cadmium and lead that contaminated air, soil and water.

Punitive damages are designed to deter future misconduct, and the jury ruled that DuPont had engaged in wanton, willful and reckless conduct in its operation of the smelter. Non-punitive damages included $130 million to fund a 40-year health screening plan to monitor plaintiffs for any ailments related to exposure to chemicals.

Last week, DuPont appealed the entire verdict, arguing it has been unfairly punished for doing the right thing at the site and for the community. The state Supreme Court, which is in summer recess, has not yet indicated whether the appeal will be heard.

In a "friend of the court" brief filed last week, Manchin urged the justices to clarify what sort of appellate review is to be afforded DuPont under its constitutional right to due process. His lawyers cited a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision to argue that the 14th Amendment guarantees appeals of punitive damages.

The court ruled Thursday that Crist doesn't have the constitutional authority to enter into the agreement that allows Las Vegas-style slot machines, black jack and other card games at facilities such as the Hard Rock Casinos in Tampa and Hollywood.

House Speaker Marco Rubio challenged the agreement after Crist signed it in November. The tribe has already given the state $50 million as part of the deal that was expected to generate at least $100 million a year for the state.

Edward Marquette entered the plea at his arraignment in state Supreme Court in Manhattan on Thursday. He was charged with tampering with public records, offering a false instrument for filing, falsifying business records and official misconduct.

He had been scheduled to inspect the crane on March 4. It collapsed 11 days later, but officials said it was unlikely the inspection would have prevented that.

Justice Marcy Kahn allowed Marquette to remain free and ordered him back in court on Aug. 14. Neither he nor his lawyer would comment