A man accused of stealing client data and trying to extort money from Softbank BB Corp. denied in court Monday that he had intent to extort and said he only wanted the firm to respond to him.

Hiroyuki Kimata, 32, allegedly threatened to leak the information unless he was paid off.

Kimata, a resident of Aichi Prefecture, admitted he had sent threatening e-mails to Softbank BB. He claimed, however, that he took the action "out of depression and an acute feeling of isolation from society."

Kimata was arrested in February for allegedly trying to extort more than 10 million yen from Softbank BB in exchange for personal data on approximately 900,000 clients.

He stands accused of stealing the data from Yahoo! BB, Softbank's high-speed Internet connection service.

"It is true that I sent the e-mails, but I had no intention of really taking any money. If I am allowed to, I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to Softbank and all the people I caused concern and inconvenience to," the sobbing Kimata said as his Tokyo District Court trial opened.

He said he regularly visits a mental clinic for depression and panic disorder, adding that he thought he would feel happy if he sent hoax messages to such a big company and received replies.

He added that he felt isolated from society, having no friends and even being disliked by his own family.

"I felt left out of society. I only wanted replies to my mails," he claimed.

Kimata stands accused of stealing information on 900,000 clients of Yahoo! BB while he worked as a temporary staffer at the customer service department of Softbank BB's Nagoya branch between May 2002 and last June.

He initially tried to sell the information to a company that buys listings and company directories in June 2003. After the company turned down his offer, he sent five threatening e-mails last January and February to Softbank BB, having quit the company and gained employment at a different firm.

In the e-mails, he attached samples of the personal data he had stolen and said he was prepared to hand over all the client data in his possession if he was paid more than 10 million yen, prosecutors said.

He also told Softbank BB that if the company accepted his request, he would be willing to show them weaknesses in their data system, they added.

Kimata ordered the company to bring the money to JR Nagoya Station on Jan. 11, but never showed up at the designated drop site.

Critics have called Softbank BB's information security system lax, pointing out that even unauthorized individuals could gain access to client data.

Kimata's lawyer also tried to emphasize this point by alleging that his client first came up with the idea of stealing large quantities of client information when he found a CD-Rom in early 2003 at a garbage dump near his home containing Yahoo! BB client data.

Three men were arrested in February over a separate extortion bid.

Two of them were indicted for stealing personal data on 4.6 million Softbank BB clients and demanding monthly "consultant fees" of 1 million yen and an "investment" of at least 2 billion yen in their fictitious overseas company.