NSA contracts with Blue Coat

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:

Copies of contracts with Blue Coat over the past 5 years. If retrieving the contracts themselves is too burdensome please provide a list of contracts. Please include any processing notes made in completing this request.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

In the event that fees cannot be waived, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Heather Akers-Healy

This letter is to appeal the "No Responsive Documents" determination of my request number 74751. I respectfully ask that the search be performed again. To clarify my initial request, I am seeking contracts between the NSA and Blue Coat Systems, located at 420 N. Mary Ave.,
Sunnyvale, CA 94085. "Blue Coat" is the name of the contracting company and not a keyword. If a search cannot be completed using the company name, please search for contracts that reference the Sunnyvale, CA location listed above.

Additionally I would like to appeal your determination that I am an "all other" requester for fees purposes. I request that you please re-classify me as a media requester.

To address the standards outlined by this office more fully:

1) Requester must be a person or entity that gathers information of
potential interest (news) to a segment of the public. The FOIA defines
'news' as information that is about current events or that would be of
current interest to the public.

Both MuckRock as an organization and I as an individual, gather and
report news of great interest to the general public.

MuckRock requests and editorial pieces are regularly
re-reported by local, national, and international news organizations, and
have sparked congressional questioning, administrative reforms, and
broader understanding.

For example, a MuckRock request and reporting on the TOR network:

https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-america-10/silk-road-anonymous-marketplace-doj-801/
https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2012/jun/08/hunting-child-porn-fbi-stymied-tor-undernet/

Which in turn has been cited in numerous other reports:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/06/fbi-halted-one-child-porn-inquiry-because-tor-got-in-the-way/
http://freebeacon.com/anonymous-jihad/

The Boston Phoenix provided an in-depth profile of our editorial
operations:

http://thephoenix.com/boston/news/111660-muckrock-city/

While noted media commentator Dan Kennedy said MuckRock was a "first
amendment hero in the making":

http://dankennedy.net/2010/11/18/a-first-amendment-hero-in-the-making/

An incomplete list of other outlets re-reporting news broken by MuckRock
can be found here:

https://pinboard.in/u:morisy/t:muckrock_press/

My own individual requests are part of this editorial process, and
already released documents have been analyzed and reported on at various media outlets:

Muckrock: https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2013/sep/17/nsas-contract-vupen-darth-vader-cybersecurity/

Gawker: http://gawker.com/nsa-paid-french-hackers-for-software-exploits-1341604032

The Register: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/09/17/nsa_vupen/

Information Week: http://www.informationweek.com/security/government/nsa-contracted-with-zero-day-vendor-vupe/240161389

Computing: http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/2295155/nsa-bought-zero-day-vulnerabilities-from-security-company-vupen

2) Requester must use its editorial skills to turn the raw materials
into a distinct work.

Unlike some FOIA repository sites, MuckRock also publishes a large
amount of original editorial material based on the documents requested
by its community. This editorial analysis and commentary is primarily
published on its own site:

https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/

But occasionally syndicated or appearing in other publications under
agreement, such as this investigative front-page story in the Boston
Globe:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/04/08/big-brother-better-police-work-new-technology-automatically-runs-license-plates-everyone/1qoAoFfgp31UnXZT2CsFSK/story.html

The editorial capacity includes, but is not limited to, original
analysis, original interviews, synthesis of materials, and added context
around the documents. MuckRock's team consists of journalists with
experience at a number of other more traditional news outlets
including the Boston Phoenix, the Weekly Dig, the New York Daily News,
the Boston Globe, and numerous other local, regional, and national
publications, and they bring this experience and expertise to bear in
analyzing and reporting on requested documents.

3) Requester must distribute that work to an audience.

MuckRock has over 1,000 active members and tens of thousands of readers,
constituting a large and, as cited above, obviously influential audience
of educated news consumers, so that news reported on the site spreads
far beyond its direct readership. For further reference, I again point
this office to:

https://pinboard.in/u:morisy/t:muckrock_press/

Thank you for your consideration and prompt response to this request,
and please do not hesitate to follow up with any further clarifications
or questions.

Sincerely,

Heather Akers-Healy

Please provide an update on the appeal for request number 74831. The last correspondence I received was an acknowledgement of my appeal dated November 1, 2013. Thank you.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Sept. 8, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #74831.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Sept. 8, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #74831.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Sept. 8, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #74831.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Sept. 8, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #74831.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Sept. 8, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #74831.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Sept. 8, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #74831.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Sept. 8, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #74831.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Sept. 8, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #74831.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Sept. 8, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #74831.

Thank you for your help.