New York Attorney General investigating fraud on net neutrality comment site

New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says that his office is investigating a scheme to corrupt the Federal Communications Commission's online public-comment process on net neutrality via the use of thousands of false identities — but the FCC is not cooperating.

In a statement posted on Medium Tuesday, Schneiderman said the investigation has been going on since May when his office noticed "enormous numbers of fake comments" about the FCC's proposal to abolish net neutrality. "In doing so, the perpetrator or perpetrators attacked what is supposed to be an open public process by attempting to drown out and negate the views of the real people, businesses, and others who honestly commented on this important issue," he said, noting that many misused real names and addresses. "That’s akin to identity theft, and it happened on a massive scale."

In June, Schneiderman's office contacted the FCC for records related to the public comment system to determine who was behind the fraud, then followed up nine times over five months. "Yet we have received no substantive response to our investigative requests," he said. "None."

Trump's pick to head the FCC, Ajit Pai, has been outspoken in his plans to overturn net neutrality, an Obama-era initiative that regulates the internet as a public utility, preventing internet-service providers for charging more for access to certain kinds of content or creating "fast lanes" to content by companies who pay. Net neutrality proponents say it protects consumers and small businesses from corporate control. Pai opened a public-comment period earlier this year, and this week scheduled a vote for Dec. 12.

Read more: https://www.metro.us/news/local-news/new-york/net-neutrality-investigating-fraud-fcc-comment-site