USAGM 12.11.23

Dear FOIA officer:

You are receiving this correspondence as a request under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. subsection 552. I am requesting the following:

Copies of records for award IDs BBG50J130237, BBG50J120406, and BBG50P100171. These IDs are associated with contracts awarded to a business, Ultrareach Internet Corp. (UEI: P9R8NZXL3SH3), for work done with a predecessor to the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). This request includes, but is not limited to:

- Correspondence (traditional mail, faxes, email, etc.)

- Requests for Proposals

- Requests for Information

- Statements of Work

- Memorandum(s) of Understanding

- Letters of Interest

- Award Letters

- Task Letters

- Privacy Impact Assessments

- Invoices

- Purchase and/or Change Orders

- Project Budgets and/or Budget Proposals

- Evaluation Reports

- Presentations by Ultrareach Internet Corp.

I am asking you to waive any fees associated with this request. I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. My bylines, which include Unicorn Riot, the Geopolitical Economy Report, and Creem Magazine, can be found in both print and electronic publications. Please take note of the Office of Management and Budget guidelines published March 27, 1987 (52 FR 10012) that include electronic publications and other nontraditional publishers as representatives of the news media.

A fee waiver is appropriate in situations where "disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations and activities of the government, and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester,” 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(iii). Ultrareach Internet Corp. is a business associated with the Global Internet Freedom Consortium (GIFC). Please see the following link: http://www.internetfreedom.org/about/index.html

Both Ultrareach Internet Corp. and the GIFC are run by practitioners of Falun Gong, a new religious movement originating from China. Falun Gong members have created and currently run non-profit organizations, media companies, and human rights groups, all of which focus on censorship and human rights abuses in China, and because of this, the group and its associated entities have received public and financial support from the United States government. In 2010, for instance, the United States Department of State awarded the GIFC $1.5 million. Please see the following link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8678760.stm

Yet, in 2021, news organizations such as National Public Radio (NPR) reported on disputes within the USAGM over a contract awarded to Ultrareach Internet Corp. in 2020 (award ID: 95170021K0011). Please see the following link: https://www.npr.org/2021/04/14/986982387/falun-gong-steve-bannon-and-the-trump-era-battle-over-internet-freedom

In the NPR article, Matthew Baise, director of digital strategy and audience development for Voice of America, a child organization of the USAGM, was quoted from an internal audit as stating the following of Ultrasurf, software developed by Ultrareach Internet Corp.: "We spent nearly two weeks checking and double-checking how the number could possibly be this low. We believe the true, final number of measurable traffic from Ultrasurf to be so miniscule because a) none of the networks were ever notified of its existence so it was never promoted b) it's only available for Windows desktop machines (almost all our audience is on mobile devices) and c) it is a brand new product. In the absence of promotion on Ultrasurf's end, this thing was essentially invisible."

Given public reporting on the dispute over contract ID 95170021K0011 and the apparent failure of Ultrasurf to meet the parameters of that contact, any prior contracts awarded to Ultrareach Internet Corp. by the USAGM's predecessor, the BBG, can reasonably be understood as being of public interest. Additionally, the total obligations of the BBG contracts was over $10 million and extended across multiple years; therefore, any prior work completed by Ultrareach Internet Corp. warrants public scrutiny, based on financial commitments alone.

In the event that there are fees, I am willing to pay up to $100. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

This request is not being made for commercial purposes. All documents will be provided to the general public without charge.

I look forward to your response within 20 working days, as the statute requires. If access to the records I am requesting will take longer, please contact me with information about when I might expect copies or the ability to inspect the requested records.

If you deny any or all of this request, please cite each specific exemption you feel justifies the refusal to release the information and notify me of the appeal procedures available to me under the law.

Sincerely,

Robert Skvarla, Jr.