Japanese prosecutors on Tuesday seized user records from Google in an investigation into the leak of a video on YouTube showing a tense maritime incident that sparked a row with China, NHK said.
The move, reported by the public broadcaster and other Japanese media, came after the government confirmed the authenticity of the film showing how a Chinese fishing trawler collided with two Japanese coastguard vessels in disputed waters in early September.
Video footage of the incident taken by the coastguard had so far been shown only to Prime Minister Naoto Kan, security officials and some lawmakers, but not released to the public for fear it would worsen the spat.
After an in-house investigation, the coastguard on Monday brought a criminal complaint in Tokyo against an unknown suspect, citing breaches of the national public service act and other laws.
Prosecutors will analyse the record of YouTube users' IP addresses, which would enable them to identify and location of the computer used to upload the controversial footage, NHK said on Tuesday.
Japan's subsequent arrest of the Chinese trawler captain sparked a barrage of protests from Beijing that continued after Japan released the skipper, sending relations plunging to their lowest point in years.
Google, which owns the video-sharing site, said in a statement that it would not comment on the media reports.
However, a spokesman at Google Japan said in an email to AFP: "We follow the law like any other company and comply with valid legal process. When we receive a subpoena or court order, we check to see if it meets both the letter and spirit of the law before complying."
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