An NTT spokesman confirmed Wednesday that the inquiry is a response to FBI and Justice Department concerns that law-enforcement agencies maintain access to Verio's Internet backbone so that they can obtain wiretaps and serve subpoenas for information needed for their investigations.
Wiretaps are a common tool in espionage investigations and are used in some criminal probes.
Spokesmen for the FBI, Justice Department and Treasury declined to comment. Other companies have had to overcome FBI, Justice Department and Pentagon concerns. Kan. Though the German carrier hasn't decided to pull the trigger on an offer for Sprint, nationality already has become an issue. Deutsche Telekom has said it already is reducing its government stake, but any such deal probably would be complicated by a national-security review. The new complications in the Verio deal have spooked those arbitrageurs who bet on takeover stocks, fearing that the agreement may become a political football beyond national-security issues.