Reposted.... gray media & gray matter: CIA and MI6 Media Opertations in Japan

Gray Media White Collar Crime in Japan???

I’ve already pointed out the front company functioning as a so-called “gray media” publisher that put out the disinformation penned by John Dougill et al, as well as the recent, apparently MI6 sponsored blog “DeepKyoto” nominally operated by Michael Lambe, which basically took over for the now defunct local foreigner oriented magazine, apparently MI6 sponsored as well that was called Kansai Timeout, which had also published pieces by Dougill and every other pseudo-intellectual intelligence officer plying their trade as a white collar criminal in the area.

There is another one, nation-wide in scale, and of a technologically more advanced variety, also claiming to be a discussion group. The problem is that they censor discussions, delete material from their website after a very short time, and would seem to be acting as a cover for numerous other individuals outputting propaganda directly into the news discussion pages.

I am talking about “JapanToday” run by a company called GPlus Media, which was formed by two Americans and one other individual with a UK/Commonwealth accent.

GPlus Media “Building International Japan”

http://www.gplusmedia.com/CMS/wp-content/themes/gplusmedia/pdf/companyprofile.pdf

JapanToday Japan News and Discussion

http://www.japantoday.com/

As you can tell from the emails below, at one point in the not-too-distant past, JapanToday used to post national news articles addressing matters of concern relating to the political and socio-economic situation in Japan.　They cancelled their subscription to that service (Kyodo News), and immediately deleted, selectively, many but not all of the articles, as well as all of the comments posted by JapanToday users' in association with those articles. Even if they insisted on deleting the articles, the posts are not the subject of any intellectual property rights connected to Kyodo (I don't know about terms of the license for the articles they had posted), and the Terms of Use in effect at the time would have seemed to contramand such an act. 

Furthermore, they did not provided me with any advance notice relating to changes, particularly to the Terms of Service or their intentions with regard to deleting user posts along with the Kyodo News articles, which they didn't provide notification of either. At any rate, I complained and was rebuffed, and I did threaten legal action.

Now that I have a little more time to deal with this injustice, I am posting this blog and building the case, which will probably find its was to the small claims court first, in regard to their refusal to provide a Japanese version of the Terms of Service (they are incorporated in Japan) and if I drum up enough interest, maybe I’ll escalate it to the regular court level (regarding the freedom of expression right under the constitution). 

After they cut out the newsworthy Kyodo articles, they upped the amount of Murdoch-esque type local content of a sort oriented at evoking an emotional or sentimental response, making the user feel more domestically inclined, let’s say, more like reclined in front of the tube as the news is so trivial. 

That is in stark contrast to the situation adhering on the “forum” when the Kyodo News articles of substantial news content were up, and when user’s were not only acquiring information that would help the user stay well-informed, but were thereby participating in Japanese society at large. That is to say, the JapanToday site was a meeting place where users could freely associate and actually participate in meaningful discussions in the public sphere by commenting on the articles and discussing the issues among each other. It was a good site. 

WAS, as in past tense.

However, there were obviously a lot of Freemason type secret society plants trying to put out banal comments to undermine substantial discussion of the issues, and a lot of right wing political positions, as well as an inordinate and incongruous amount of support among foreigners for the Japanese organized crime groups, the yakuza. Maybe there were a lot of yakuza members with decent English language skills accessing the site as well.

Moreover, I only discovered today that they have many other websites, and on one of their websites I found an article penned by the abovementioned Michael Lambe, whom it would appear some of the intelligence operatives are attempting to catapult to the status of progressive community activist or the like. This piece was publish under the category of “legal issues”, no less.

Fury at Kyoto Aquarium Plan

OCTOBER 12TH, 2010                                     

BY MICHAEL LAMBE                         

 CATEGORY: LEGAL ISSUES

http://injapan.gaijinpot.com/live/legal-issues/2010/10/12/fury-at-kyoto-aquarium-plan/

Information on the three executives of GPlus Media follows the emails. Two of these people are now in Shanghai, apparently, and the other maybe in San Francisco, or maybe the Philippines, hard to say from the description of his other company. 

At any rate, are these individuals simply hard work success stories? Or do they owe their success to their association with nepotistic secret societies, perhaps with intelligence networks working to undermine civil society here in Japan? 

Seeing that these people are probably not even in the country and are well-insulated from the type of operational considerations that have resulted in my complaining to the editor's in the following emails, as recent scandals show, executives are responsible for the deeds of their underlings.

Another of the websites (Ecentral.jp) operated by this group is the “Official Job Site of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ)”. They certainly are well-connected to the business community.

Sent:	Wed 11/23/11 6:30 PM
To:	editor@japantoday.com

hello,
why have recent articles on the osaka mayoral election been removed from the site?
is it censorship?
regards

The above email was sent several months after the following complaints. I never received a response to the above email.

From:	Chris Betros (chris@japantoday.com)
Sent:	Wed 8/24/11 7:36 AM

As I explained to you before, Kyodo stories no longer exist on our site. When they were removed, any comments attached tostories were also removed.
This is a contractual matter. I can assure you that we do not have a political ideology.
As far as removal of posts are concerned, we have not violated our Terms of Service or any readers' rights.
Editor

Sent:	Wed 8/24/11 7:29 AM
To:	support@gplusmedia.com
Cc:	chris@japantoday.com

I'm going to resend the following email once before I look into taking legal action against your company.

A non response from the site supervisor does not qualify as communication, and the reasoning given by the person claiming to be an editor doesn't stand up under mild scrutiny. That leaves little reasoning other than political ideology, and perhaps a shallow marketing approach.

You will justify your removal of the posts in logical and reasonable terms, or I may seek legal advise as to whether you have violated your own Terms of Service Agreement in doing so. If there are any violation of my rights as an individual, such as freedom of speech, failure to uphold a contractual agreement in good faith, etc., ensuing therefrom, and there is a possibility of receiving monetary damages from you, I'm sure that there will be an attorney willing to assist me in pursuing the case.

Sent:	Mon 8/22/11 2:33 PM
To:	support@gplusmedia.com

To Whom This May Concern,

After noticing a number of my posts deleted without notice, I contacted you editorial staff to learn that the post were associated with articles from Kyodo News Service.

At any rate, the editors last comment stated that there was no basis to keep the posts up because there was no article to serve as a reference, but I pointed out that the case is the same for all articles over two weeks old. The exchange with the editor is attached below for your reference.

I want the all of the posts associated with the Kyodo News Articles restored, and I believe that deleting them contravenes both the Terms of Service and Moderation Policy.

Please respond and let me know the proper channel to escalate this issue, if necessary.

Regards,

*****

Sent:	Sat 8/20/11 5:42 AM
To:	chris@japantoday.com

All of the comments for articles older than two weeks don't have the story, so why is it different for the Kyodo stories? Otherwise it wuold seem that all comments should have no more than a 2-week life span. Frankly, the Kyodo stories would seem to represent the more serious type of news related to Japan.

From:	Chris Betros (chris@japantoday.com)
Sent:	Sat 8/20/11 5:19 AM

For most readers, having the comments without the stories doesn't make much sense, as there is no point of reference.
CB

Sent:	Sat 8/20/11 5:12 AM
To:	chris@japantoday.com

Once again, thanks for the quick response. It is somewhat reassuring to learn that there is a contractural relationship involved in removing the articles.

On the other hand, with regard to the comments, what is the reasoning for removing them as well? There would not seem to be any copyright issues vis-a-vis the articles, for example, and the comments remain the property of those who posted them, right?
*****

From:	Chris Betros (chris@japantoday.com)
Sent:	Sat 8/20/11 4:52 AM

The stories you posted below are from Kyodo News Service. Our contract with Kyodo ended on July 31 and as per the terms of our contract, all Kyodo stories had to be removed from our system at that time. Comments attached to stories would also be removed.

I can assure you that there is no censorship policy on Japan Today, nor do we have any ideologues on the moderating team.

If you have had comments removed from non-Kyodo stories, then please tell me your user name and I'll ask the moderators to look into it for you.

C Betros
Editor

Sent:	Sat 8/20/11 3:19 AM
To:	chris@japantoday.com

Hello C Betros,
Thanks you for the prompt response.

Below is a list of some (related) articles that are at issue, which have been deleted along with my (and all other members that posted comments) comments. Note that this would appear to be blatant censorship, and a contradiction of your own Terms.

I enjoy contributing to enhancing the level of discourse through Japan Today news comments, and do not take the affront lightly that you apparently have some right wing ideologues on your moderation staff who have chosen to obliterate content I have contributed that was in conformance with the Terms and Purpose. The comments from all other news articles on which I have commented remain available for reference on your site.

I would hope that you can gather from the level of some of the comments I've submitted that I will not tolerate this nonsense. I would recommend that the persons responsible for this censorship be disciplined, and the matter placed on record.

Osaka passes ordinance obliging teachers to stand, sing 'Kimigayo'

Saturday 04th June, 07:15 AM JST

Making teachers stand, sing 'Kimigayo' constitutional: Supreme Court

Tuesday 31st May, 06:30 AM JST
Making teachers stand, sing 'Kimigayo' constitutional: court
Saturday 29th January, 06:08 AM JST

Top court again OKs punishing teachers for snubbing Japan flag, anthem
NATIONAL JUL. 15, 2011 - 06:34AM JST
Regards,

From:	Chris Betros (chris@japantoday.com)
Sent:	Fri 8/19/11 10:47 PM

Most articles from news providers have an expiry date of two weeks. After that time, the articles are no longer available. However, the comments remain.

As for your posts, could you please tell me your user name and what topics you are referring to? I'll ask the moderators to have a look for you.
C Betros
Editor

Sent:	Fri 8/19/11 1:36 PM
To:	editor@japantoday.com

to whom this may concern,
i would like to know why certain articles regarding the court decisions related to the national anthem and the actions of the governor of osaka have been removed. furthermore, even when articles are made unavailable, generally because they are frivolous or the like, the posts that have been made remain accessible on the posters history. i want to know why my posts on these articles have been removed, and why i was not informed that they were being removed.

i take this matter seriously, and expect a prompt and detailed response. if there are clauses in the user's agreement related to these actions, please indicate the relevant clauses.

note that i do some writing on these topics, and your removal of serious and sensitive content of this degree of political importance is disturbing, as it would seem to betray a political agenda on the part of your so-called news site / open forum. perhaps it is not so open after all?
regards,

Executives of GPlus Media

Erik Gain

Interview on Shanghai television

http://www.itv-asia.com/interview/erik-gain-0

He is an American that makes the claim in this interview that, “JapanToday is Japan’s best known English new site”. I’m afraid that it may be cumbersome to disprove such a spurious assertion, but the smug confidence with which he delivers it is indeed impressive. Incidentally, apparently he first arrived in Japan in 1990, but no indication as to what he was doing.

Peter Wilson

Interview on Shanghai television

http://www.itv-asia.com/interview/peter-wilson

There is no other information on this individual, but he speaks with what may be an Australian accent.

Derek Schneiderman

Article in Japan Inc.

http://www.japaninc.com/node/2951

He is also an American and the Chairman and CEO of IA Global Inc, and apparently worked as a recruiter before becoming an entrepreneur.

IA Global Company Information

IA Global, Inc. is a global services and outsourcing company focused on growing existing businesses and expansion through global mergers and acquisitions. In the Philippines, the Company had a 100% interest in Shift Resources Inc. and Asia Premier Executive Suites, Inc., multi-service call center operations that has been merged into a single company operating as Global Hotline Philippines. In addition, the Company signed a business processing and marketing services agreement with HTMT Global Solutions Limited (HTMT) on January 9, 2009. Effective July 1, 2009, the Company deconsolidate the operations of Global Hotline, Inc. On June 14, 2010, the Company outsourced its call center operations. On May 20, 2010, the Company acquired JSK Fund Co Ltd., which owns 100% of Car Planner Co Ltd (Car Planner). On June 4, 2010, the Company acquired a 60% interest in Johnny Co Ltd. (Johnny) from Hynox Corporation.
101 California Street Suite 2450 San Francisco CA 94111