Nikkei English News: TOKYO (AP)--A U.S. intelligence agency electronically eavesdropped on foreign companies and passed information to U.S. competitors to help them win business overseas, a major Tokyo newspaper reported Saturday.
The National Security Agency monitored phone calls, faxes and electronic mail of European and Japanese companies since at least 1990, the Mainichi newspaper said, citing a report Wednesday by the European Parliament, the European Union's legislature.
The newspaper quoted the report as saying the NSA, in an operation named "Echelon," used its vast eavesdropping network to listen to business negotiations.
The Central Intelligence Agency and British intelligence were also involved, the paper said.
The paper said the report was submitted Wednesday to parliament by its research bureau. Some of the findings also appeared in a January report, the paper said.
In one case, the NSA monitored talks between French electronics company Thomson-CSF and the Brazilian government over sale of a radar system. An unnamed U.S. company ended up winning the contract, the paper said.
The paper also said the NSA listened in on 1990 negotiations between Japan's NEC Corp. and the Indonesian government over the purchase of telecommunications machinery.
It used the information to urge Jakarta to award half the contract to AT&T, the paper said.
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