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FC: FBI asks website to delete Japanese intelligence documents
From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 16:00:06 -0400
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,37718,00.html FBI Pressuring Spy Archivist by Declan McCullagh (declan () wired com) 10:00 a.m. Jul. 21, 2000 PDT The FBI wants to delete a Japanese intelligence document from a U.S. website. Two special agents on Thursday contacted online archivist John Young, who maintains a massive archive of files related to spy agencies, and politely asked him to yank information related to Japan's Public Security Investigation Agency. Young refused to comply with the request. He said the FBI told him they were asking on behalf of the Japanese Ministry of Justice, which oversees the PSIA. An FBI spokesman was not immediately available for comment. The 120KB document appears to be a PSIA personnel file, with over 400 names, birthdates, and titles, starting with Director General Hidenao Toyoshima. The document's title: "The Most Incompetent Intelligence Agency in the World." "There's nothing wrong with me putting this stuff up in the U.S.," Young says of his cryptome.org site. "It's not wrong or illegal." Young, a 64-year-old New York architect, has spent years amassing a vast collection of reports. The collection, over 4,000 files about privacy, technology, and intelligence agencies, is probably the world's most comprehensive public collection of its kind. For the last week, Young has been busy placing a series of documents related to Japanese intelligence on cryptome.org. Last Friday, he posted what appears to be an internal CIA document about the agenda of a Japanese delegation's visit in June 1998. On Sunday, Young added a document apparently classified as "secret" by the CIA -- also prepared for Japanese officials -- that includes a fairly detailed overview of the U.S. intelligence community, including its budgets and personnel trends. Its author is listed as assistant CIA director Charles Allen, who referred calls to a spokeswoman. "We're always concerned if classified information is made public," a CIA spokeswoman said. "That's a serious matter.... Leaks of classified information are certainly of concern to this agency." Young has identified his source for the apparently leaked documents only as "S.K." Someone using the name Shigeo Kifuji last week posted some of the same documents on the alt.security.espionage newsgroup using a Web-based email account. [...] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- the moderated mailing list of politics and technology To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------
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- FC: FBI asks website to delete Japanese intelligence documents Declan McCullagh (Jul 21)