On March 11, the day when the massive earthquake and tsunami hit the Tohoku region's Pacific coastal areas, the Kan Cabinet endorsed a bill to revise the Criminal Law to smooth investigation into computer crimes.
On April 1, while the nation was shaken by the aftermath of the March 11 disasters and by the accidents at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the government submitted the bill to the Diet. The bill was for setting up new crime categories — creation and distribution of computer viruses — and for punishing violators.
Because the revision was feared to infringe on the secrecy of communication as guaranteed by the Constitution's Article 21, Section 2, the Japan Federation of Bar Associations and some computer and Internet experts have dubbed the bill a "computer surveillance bill."