FOIA exception for investigatory privilege. It's complicated and no personal experience. 5 USC 552(b)(7).

(7) records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, but only to the extent that the production of such law enforcement records or information (A) could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings, (B) would deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication, (C) could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, (D) could reasonably be expected to disclose the identity of a confidential source, including a State, local, or foreign agency or authority or any private institution which furnished information on a confidential basis, and, in the case of a record or information compiled by criminal law enforcement authority in the course of a criminal investigation or by an agency conducting a lawful national security intelligence investigation, information furnished by a confidential source, (E) would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or would disclose guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions if such disclosure could reasonably be expected to risk circumvention of the law, or (F) could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual;

Nominated for post of the year.

PSA JAPAN CELEBRATES ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY

https://blog.psacard.com/2019/08/30/...r-anniversary/
http://https://blog.psacard.com/wp-c...ar-870x500.jpg

“It was challenging but at the same time exciting in taking the first footsteps in the inaugural journey where no grading company had gone.”

Those were the proud words spoken by PSA Japan Business Director Tony Aram when asked to describe his first year at the helm in Central Tokyo.

Aram, a bilingual financial expert, collector and longtime resident of Japan, spearheaded PSA’s first venture into the Far East and helped cultivate overseas business for the industry’s top third-party authentication and grading company. His year-long journey started with some basic steps that included registering the company, finding an office and adequate storage space, creating a Japanese website, and even designing his own business cards. It also included attending local card shows and debuting a new PSA company booth, answering questions from curious onlookers and, ultimately, earning the trust of Japanese collectors, many of whom weren’t even aware of card authentication, grading and encapsulation.

“The concept of authenticating and grading cards and/or autographs was largely unknown to most Japanese collectors,” said Aram. “Collectors here seem to be very much content with their raw card collections. But as I’ve had the chance to explain what PSA does, collectors started coming around.

“In general, people are reluctant to change or in accepting new ideas. But Japanese collectors are very much like their U.S. counterparts. They enjoy showing off their collections and they’re interested in preserving them. They also hope their collections will increase in value. So, I know it’s just a matter of time before PSA’s brand and services will become must-haves for collectors here in the future.”


PSA’s 33 millionth certified collectible
Toward that end, after attending numerous card shows and spreading the word about PSA, Aram is proud to report that monthly submissions are on the uptick. In fact, August established another benchmark for the company in card submissions.

“Since November we have seen new records being set almost every other month,” he said. “What’s promising is that I see many first-time submitters who are submitting for a second time. They are also providing images with positive comments on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook when they get their cards back. That all helps PSA’s brand to be recognized in the overseas market.”

While it has certainly been a year of firsts for PSA Japan, one of the proudest moments for Aram came when a Japanese card submission of a 1993 Magic: The Gathering Black Lotus Beta was recognized as PSA’s 33 millionth collectible certified. The card received a grade of PSA Near Mint-Mint 8, which has since generated more than 44,000 views on YouTube.

“I see social media as being one of the keys to our continued growth,” he added.

As for what Year 2 will bring and what Aram can do to build on the momentum that’s already been generated, he doesn’t hesitate to answer.

“I will be focusing on training more and more dealers and shop owners on how to accept submissions from customers at their shops,” he said. “I hope to train them so that they become almost like our sales and marketing force on the ground. Hopefully, that helps cultivate even more collectors in regions outside of Tokyo as well.

“Collectors will find it comforting if they are able to make first-time submissions directly over the counter at their favorite card dealer shops rather than sending them in by mail to PSA Japan’s office only to be forwarded to company headquarters in California for authentication and grading.”

So all Joe has to do is pay off Zuck and all negative content about PSA on FB will go poof due to their rigid and consistent standards prohibiting hate speech.:rolleyes:

I'll take a shot at FOIA question. From 1975-80 I worked in the office of the Department of Justice that processed administrative appeals from denials by the FBI for access to its records. In that capacity, I read boatloads of FBI investigative files.

There were never any agent's notes. At least back in the day, any such notes were converted to a typed statement (302) that was included in the file and I assume the notes then destroyed. [I assume this process has now been computerized.] So, the real question is whether any such Orlando 302s could be obtained by a third party under FOIA.

I think the answer is likely 'no.' As to pending investigations, those records are entirely exempt from access. See (b)(7)(A) in Peter's post. As to closed investigations, the problem is privacy. See (b)(7)(C). Unless Orlando waives his privacy interest, the records would not be available to any third party. There are exceptions for enormous public interest (think JFK assassination files) and maybe in the situation where the information is already in the public domain, as where Orlando had testified at trial.

Mark
Thanks for sharing your wisdom from experiences:) and hope all is well your way.

Back to the original thought, stocks go up and down in valuation based somewhat on perception. For now, according to the stock price, there doesn't seem to be anything going wrong. Full speed ahead, damn the torpedoes. :eek:

I'm going through PSA's SEC Filings and there's a lot here to digest, pick a part and question, but I have a question about this -

"Government Regulation
With the exception of laws in some states that require memorabilia authenticators to certify to the accuracy of their authentication opinions, there
are no material government regulations specifically relating to the authentication and grading businesses that we conduct, other than regulations that
apply generally to businesses operating in the markets where we maintain operations or conduct business".

Which states require authenticators to certify to the accuracy of their opinions? What does this process involve? Thanks.

Mark, I appreciate the answer you gave, pretty informative -Thank you!

I know California was passing some law about autographs. Not sure how it ended up. PSA didn't move out of CA so it must not affect them too much.

I have to wonder when the legal issue of "duty of care" comes to play. If law enforcement and/or a civil court reach the conclusion that PSA has no clue how to detect alterations to cards and yet they advertise that "PSA looks for evidence of doctoring, such as re-coloring or trimming", one would think they could not be allowed to continue their operation for at the very least common law negligence or even gross negligence or possibly even fraud if no effort nor diligence whatsoever is used in their determination. Just rendering an opinion that it doesn't look altered is pretty lame.

https://www.psacard.com/services/tradingcardgrading

I don't think the government is going to shut PSA down, that isn't how things work. What court is going to issue that order, regardless of what it or a jury finds? This is a firm authenticating baseball cards, not a firm selling an inherently dangerous product or otherwise threatening people's lives or well-being.

Sadly, I think you’re right...

But perhaps the Gov’t could force a mandatory “on-slab” disclaimer stating that continued reliance on PSA can be detrimental to your collection. Kind of like those warnings on Cigarette Packs, stating that smoking can be dangerous to your health. Seems that’s the very least they could do. ;)

lmao!

Yeah a warning from the Card Surgeon General.

You rang?

A draft is already in the works. Just needs a bit of a trim to fit on the slab.