Operation Payback
| Tracking # |
1425709-000 |
| Submitted | Dec. 25, 2018 |
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Communications
From: Emma North-Best
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
Files mentioning "Operation Payback" or "Operation Avenge Assange," a series of cyber campaigns and attacks by the hacker collective Anonymous, which resulted in cyber attacks on PayPal, PostFinance, EveryDNS, the website of U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman, as well as Visa and Mastercard.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, 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,
Emma Best
From: Federal Bureau of Investigation
There are eFOIA files available for you to download.
From: Emma North-Best
If we limit the scope to exclude court filings, about how many pages would we be looking at?
From: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Thank you for considering narrowing the scope of your request. Your email will be forwarded to our negotiation team and a representative will be in contact. Please allow 2-3 weeks for this initial contact.
Respectfully,
Public Information Officer
Record/Information Dissemination Section (RIDS) FBI-Information Management Division
170 Marcel Drive, Winchester, VA 22602-4843
Direct: (540) 868-4593
Fax: (540) 868-4391
Questions E-mail: foipaquestions@fbi.gov<mailto:foipaquestions@fbi.gov>
Do you have further questions about the FOI/PA process? Visit us at http://www.fbi.gov/foia
Please check the status of your request online at https://vault.fbi.gov/fdps-1/@@search-fdps Status updates are performed on a weekly basis.
Note: This is a non-emergency email address. If this is an emergency, please call 911 directly. If you need to report a tip for immediate action, please contact FBI Tips at http://tips.fbi.gov/ or reach out to your local field office.
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~WRD195
From: Emma North-Best
Wow, you don't do ANYTHING in the statutory time limits, do you?
From: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Good morning Ms. Best,
The Public Information Officer indicated that you would be interested in eliminating the court documents from this request. Doing so would remove approximately 1685 pages. There are approximately 18,649 potentially responsive pages, so removing the court documents alone wouldn't be enough to move the request from the extra-large track (> 8,000 pages). We would be happy to make this reduction for you, but would ask that you consider making a further reduction to move the request into one of the faster tracks. Would you possibly be willing to reduce the request to up to 950 pages to move the request into the medium track? You are always welcome to request additional material once a release has been made. We could take the first 950 pages, the last 950, or split between the beginning and end of the file if you would like.
Please let us know how you would like to move forward.
Best regards,
FBI FOIA Negotiation Team
Information Management Division
fbi.foipa.negotiation@fbi.gov<mailto:fbi.foipa.negotiation@fbi.gov>
540-868-1695
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From: Emma North-Best
>Would you possibly be willing to reduce the request to up to 950 pages to move the request into the medium track? You are always welcome to request additional material once a release has been made. We could take the first 950 pages, the last 950, or split between the beginning and end of the file if you would like.
No. What if we exclude chat logs submitted as discovery, in addition to court filings?
From: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Good afternoon Ms. Best,
Apologies for the delayed response. Removing the chat logs takes out another 175 pages. Please let us know how you'd like to proceed.
Best regards,
FBI FOIA Negotiation Team
Information Management Division
fbi.foipa.negotiation@fbi.gov<mailto:fbi.foipa.negotiation@fbi.gov>
540-868-1695
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~WRD000
From: Emma North-Best
Let's omit the court records but keep everything else. I believe that will eliminate ~1,685 pages from the ~18,649 potentially responsive pages, leaving ~16,964 potentially responsive pages to be processed which would place the request in the extra-large track.
From: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Good afternoon Ms. Best,
We can certainly do that. We'll eliminate the court documents and go forward with the remaining material for approximately 16,956 pages.
Best regards,
FBI FOIA Negotiation Team
Information Management Division
fbi.foipa.negotiation@fbi.gov<mailto:fbi.foipa.negotiation@fbi.gov>
540-868-1695
From: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Good morning Ms. Best,
There are a couple of items to address before we can move forward with processing this request. First, we have a revised total for the court documents - 1789 pages, rather than 1685 pages. Also, we need to have an agreement from you to pay for the remaining pages before we proceed. The total, should all the remaining pages be released is now $505 (34 CDs at $15 each, less $5 credit for the first CD). This is an estimate; some information may not be responsive to your subject, while some may be withheld in full pursuant to FOIA/Privacy Act exemptions. Actual charges could be less, so no payment is due at this time. Payment information will be included with your release letter.
Best regards,
FBI FOIA Negotiation Team
Information Management Division
fbi.foipa.negotiation@fbi.gov<mailto:fbi.foipa.negotiation@fbi.gov>
540-868-1695
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~WRD000
From: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Good morning Ms. Best,
We hadn't heard back from you and wanted to follow up. As mentioned previously, we are unable to move forward with the processing of this request without confirmation of payment.
Best regards,
FBI FOIA Negotiation Team
Information Management Division
fbi.foipa.negotiation@fbi.gov<mailto:fbi.foipa.negotiation@fbi.gov>
540-868-1695
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~WRD000
From: Emma North-Best
You should receive payment soon. Thank you for your patience. I understand it must be difficult to have to wait an entire week.
I've been waiting over nine months. All but the last week was due to delays by your office. For instance, you ask me a question, I respond that day, four days later you tell me to "allow 2-3 weeks" for an initial response. I appreciate your diligence in following up, but thought you might want some perspective on the delays at play.
From: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Dear Ms. Best,
I believe there's been a misunderstanding. We only need you to agree to charges up to $505. No payment is owed at this time. Do we understand correctly that you agree to pay up to $505 for processing this request? As mentioned previously, this is an estimate; some information may not be responsive to your subject, while some may be withheld in full pursuant to FOIA/Privacy Act exemptions. Actual charges could be less, so no payment is due at this time. Payment information will be included with your release letter.
Best regards,
FBI FOIA Negotiation Team
Information Management Division
fbi.foipa.negotiation@fbi.gov<mailto:fbi.foipa.negotiation@fbi.gov>
540-868-1695
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~WRD000
From: Emma North-Best
And now I have egg on my face.
I absolutely misread the message. Some agencies (especially those I don't have a history with) require 50% up front. When I scrolled up and skimmed the message... I apologize, and thank you for clarifying.
Yes, I agree to pay up to $505 in duplication fees for this request.
If, in the review process, å new way to reduce the scope occurs the analyst processing it (saving time for them and money for me), I'm happy to consider it.
From: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Good morning Ms. Best,
No worries, sometimes we misunderstand each other. All is well and thanks for the clarification. We’ll go ahead and make the current reduction, removing the court documents and if there are any other reductions that seem sensible when the request is being processed, we’ll give you a shout and figure that out at the time.
You should receive a letter from us in the next week or so confirming the removal of the court documents.
Thanks again and best regards,
FBI FOIA Negotiation Team
Information Management Division
fbi.foipa.negotiation@fbi.gov<mailto:fbi.foipa.negotiation@fbi.gov>
540-868-1695
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~WRD000
From: Federal Bureau of Investigation
There are eFOIA files available for you to download.
From: Federal Bureau of Investigation
There are eFOIA files available for you to download.
From: Federal Bureau of Investigation
There are eFOIA files available for you to download.
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