New York AG Provides Tool To Help You Check If Your Name Was Used To Support Killing Net Neutrality

from the shenanigans dept

So we've noted several times now how the FCC's open comment period for its Orwell-inspired "Restoring Internet Freedom" net neutrality proceeding was simply awash in all manner of fraud. From bots that filled the comment proceeding with bogus support from fake or even dead people, to fake DDoS attacks intended to downplay the wash of angry users that flooded to the agency's website in protest. All of this stuff is more than likely to pop up in the inevitable lawsuits that are filed in the new year after the net neutrality repeal formally hits the federal register.

In addition, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman recently stated he has been conducting an investigation for the last six months into these bogus comments. In a letter recently sent to FCC boss Ajit Pai, Schneiderman notes that he reached out to the FCC nine times over a period of five months to get the agency's help in getting a closer look at the APIs and server logs related to the fraud campaign. And that time and time again the FCC ignored its request:

"Specifically, for six months my office has been investigating who perpetrated a massive scheme to corrupt the FCC’s notice and comment process through the misuse of enormous numbers of real New Yorkers’ and other Americans’ identities. Such conduct likely violates state law — yet the FCC has refused multiple requests for crucial evidence in its sole possession that is vital to permit that law enforcement investigation to proceed.

We reached out for assistance to multiple top FCC officials, including you, three successive acting FCC General Counsels, and the FCC’s Inspector General. We offered to keep the requested records confidential, as we had done when my office and the FCC shared information and documents as part of past investigative work.

Yet we have received no substantive response to our investigative requests. None."

That mirrors my own experience in trying to get the FCC's help after somebody hijacked my identity (and the identity of one of my employers) to falsely claim (twice, using two different bogus addresses) I support killing net neutrality protections. The general consensus is that while the FCC isn't likely directly behind this fraudulent activity, it's refusing to help because 1) exposing the culprit could expose the industry-linked groups behind it and 2) raising questions about the legitimacy of the one chance the public had to give feedback helps downplay the massive public opposition to the FCC's plan.

Regardless, the NY AG is proceeding with its investigation without the FCC's help. As part of that push, it has revealed a new tool on its website that lets you check to see if your name was improperly used to support killing net neutrality. Those findings are then submitted to the AG for use in its investigation and as evidence in any looming lawsuits.

Again, this is just one potential avenue of inquiry into this entire, rather grotesque affair. The FCC is also being sued by journalists for ignoring FOIA requests related to the comment fraud, for refusing to be transparent about its meetings with large ISPs eager to see the rules repealed, and for hiding details of the DDoS attack that wasn't. These will all be joined by numerous lawsuits in the new year filed by consumer groups and smaller companies, who are likely chomping at the bit to prove the FCC violated agency procedure (and potentially the law) in its rush to give consumers the tech policy equivalent of a giant middle finger.

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Filed Under: comments, eric schneiderman, fcc, net neutrality


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  • icon
    Ninja (profile), 4 Dec 2017 @ 4:56am

    Good to see the investigations and lawsuits piling up. Pai may be an asshole but he won't force his telco-money-stuffed-assholishness on people without a fight.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 4 Dec 2017 @ 7:27am

    FCC == Fake Communications Commision

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    WDS, 4 Dec 2017 @ 7:36am

    NY AG Tool

    As far as I can tell reading on the site, the tool is for New York Residents only. It would be nice to have one that works for the rest of us as well.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      PaulT (profile), 4 Dec 2017 @ 7:50am

      Re: NY AG Tool

      I popped over there just to see how many names came up (I have a ridiculously common name and it's always amusing to see where like-named people are and such).

      From my results, there's definitely people in other states returned, and obviously with me being nowhere near the USA there's no geographical restriction on using it. I would imagine that the feature to report misuse might be restricted to NY (obviously the NY AG wouldn't be able to intervene in other states), but the actual search facility appears unrestricted.

      Search away!

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Thad, 4 Dec 2017 @ 8:53am

      Re: NY AG Tool

      Huh?

      I entered my name and it pulled up my (legit) post. I'm not in New York.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Berenerd (profile), 4 Dec 2017 @ 7:53am

    My name comes up several times but not my location. What I find funny is my name comes up several times with identical posts on different days and from different states

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Mike C. (profile), 4 Dec 2017 @ 8:38am

      Re:

      I searched for my wife. Nothing from her, but mixed in with the results were dozens of identical submissions on the same day, same name, different address, same comment from "Janet Copper". Saw the same on every name search I did - there is always a large number of entries with same name, same date (or within 24 hours), same comment, different address.

      If they were truly interested in a "clean" process, they should have included a "Submitted by IP address" as well. We all know they likely aren't, but would have been nice to see.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 4 Dec 2017 @ 8:43am

        Re: Re:

        It's easy enough for some one stuffing the box to either fake their IP, or actually have a different IP for many submissions by submitting indirectly through a botnet.

        Which might lead you to want to filter out submissions where more than one comes from the same IP, but you might have multiple people using the same computer, or many people using the same proxy or Tor exit node.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Glen, 4 Dec 2017 @ 7:57am

    My name came up several times because it is fairly common but the only one from my location was actually from me. That is comforting to know.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 4 Dec 2017 @ 8:11am

      Re:

      This was my experience as well. I had two filings from me (during the first comment period and then the second), and then another person with my same name from another state (in support of the repeal, unfortunately).

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    aerinai (profile), 4 Dec 2017 @ 8:00am

    Shows for me; Non-NY Resident

    Four comments and all mine; 2 from form-fills and 2 I posted. Thankfully my name wasn't used to astroturf a position I don't stand for.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 4 Dec 2017 @ 8:05am

    8 comments and two are mine. All in support of NN.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    crade (profile), 4 Dec 2017 @ 8:21am

    "yet the FCC has refused multiple requests for crucial evidence in its sole possession that is vital to permit that law enforcement investigation to proceed."

    Which would be known as "obstructing justice".. You know for those of us not immune to the law.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 4 Dec 2017 @ 8:32am

    Sure, but this tool isn't going to offer much if you're dead... or dissuade MyNameHere and Richard Bennett from insisting that a vote from a dead is totes legit.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 4 Dec 2017 @ 8:36am

    Tried two names in it

    1. Mine. I have a rather uniquely-spelling last name and know everyone else in the US who shares it. Oddly enough, it appears that we all submitted the same identically-worded comment opposing NN.

    2. Spouse's. A rather common name, thus the search yielded quite a few comments. A great many of those -- all opposing NN -- have identical wording to those in (1).

    Speculation: since our names appear in juxtaposition, they were probably harvested by a web scraper.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    icon
    rebrad (profile), 4 Dec 2017 @ 8:46am

    Why does the site only search for fake comments. Sort of leading isn't. I found my name many time but they all supported my views not to let the government decide what's fair and neutral. I don't want the government grimey hands on anyone's internet.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 4 Dec 2017 @ 8:51am

      Re:

      It doesn't. It has no way to know what comments are fake or not. It searches for the name you enter, then it is your responsibility to decide if it is fake or not.

      I will agree though that the wording makes it unclear what exactly it is doing.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      crade (profile), 4 Dec 2017 @ 8:55am

      Re:

      Obviously it doesn't only search for fake comments. The whole purpose is to figure out the scope of the fraud. If they already knew which comments were fake there would be no need for it.

      If you actually posted the comments you saw, then they are not fraudulent. If you didn't, then they are (regardless of whether you agree with them or not really)

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Thad, 4 Dec 2017 @ 8:57am

      Re:

      Why does the site only search for fake comments.

      It doesn't.

      Sort of leading isn't.

      Not as leading as starting off your post by lying about what the form does.

      I found my name many time but they all supported my views

      So you don't care if someone is impersonating you as long as they agree with you? Real principled there, champ.

      not to let the government decide what's fair and neutral.

      That's not what net neutrality is.

      I don't want the government grimey hands on anyone's internet.

      Then go back to privately-run online services like Prodigy and GEnie, or maybe you can find a nice dial-up BBS. Because the Internet was created by the US government, you nitwit.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 4 Dec 2017 @ 9:39am

        Re: Re:

        "That's not what net neutrality is."

        Law = Government deciding something. So it really is government deciding what is fair and neutral.

        It's not rocket science Einstein.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 4 Dec 2017 @ 10:49am

          Re: Re: Re:

          So, rather than have a law that stops the ISPs from deciding where on the Internet you can go, you will let the ISPs decide which sites on the Internet you can visit, and how they can package the Internet to maximize their profits and protect their cable TV interests.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • icon
            PaulT (profile), 5 Dec 2017 @ 1:12am

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            "So, rather than have a law that stops the ISPs from deciding where on the Internet you can go"

            The fun fact is - that's the opposite of net neutrality. NN is the government telling ISPs that they have to let you go wherever you want, and that they have to treat all traffic the same. The problem is, some people have been fooled into thinking that neutrality is the content, not the pipes, he's been convinced that law regarding road traffic is the government trying to tell you which towns you can visit, not how to safely manage the routes there)

            He's literally wishing his freedom to be sold off because the corporations who wish to do that have him riled up about a boogeyman government rule that not only doesn't exist, what does exist actually prevents what he's scared about (unless I'm mistaken, NN rules would apply equally to municipal broadband as they do to private ISPs, so it would *prevent* the government from doing what he's scared of. Without it, they'd have the same ability to redirect traffic as the corporations).

            link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          PaulT (profile), 5 Dec 2017 @ 12:54am

          Re: Re: Re:

          No, it's really not, but you still seem to reach the wrong conclusion (hint: it has nothing to do with the content of the internet).

          Perhaps you should read up on what NN actually is, unless you think the government should stop getting involved in the consistency of your electricity and water supplies as well, and all the other infrastructure they provide standards for.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      PaulT (profile), 4 Dec 2017 @ 9:09am

      Re:

      Your lack of any grasp on the reality of the way the site works is unsurprising for someone who's equally misinformed on the way net neutrality works.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 4 Dec 2017 @ 11:50am

      Re:

      Did you have an email address ending in .ARPA?

      No?

      Then sit down, shut up, and learn -- if you can manage it -- from those who were there. Here is lesson 1 of day 1:

      The Internet exists in large part BECAUSE OF GOVERNMENT ACTION. Not entirely. Some of it was academic, e.g., CSnet. Some of it was ad-hoc, e.g., Usenet. But the heavy lifting in the early days was done because DARPA wanted it done. And the coalescence of these disparate networks (as well as others) into what you know as "the Internet" was done in a cooperative manner with another heavy dose of government involvement.

      Your homework for tonight is to go look at all of the early RFCs and to focus, in particular, on the affiliations of their authors. Note how many of them were at government institutions. Note how many of the ones who were elsewhere were supported by federal government money. And finally, note that the nodenames ended in .ARPA for a really, really obvious reason. Hint: government.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        PaulT (profile), 5 Dec 2017 @ 12:58am

        Re: Re:

        Don't forget that when he thinks of the internet, he's actually thinking of the web, which was created by a *foreign* government institution (shock, horror!) and is upheld by an international standard body largely funded by grants and other government-related funds.

        If he's so scared of government involvement in the internet, you'd have thought he'd be long gone by now, yet here he is.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Jeremy2020 (profile), 4 Dec 2017 @ 9:00am

    My legit comment came up, but so did a bunch of others. I decided to search the addresses provided and the top hit for all of the ones I checked supporting pai's position were places up for rent or for sale on Zillow.com

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 4 Dec 2017 @ 9:06am

    Monday, so Karl "somebody hijacked my identity" Bode whining again.

    We have only your word for that. My guess is that you got Google's wants wrong at first.

    In any case, prattling more uselessly than usual on a decided change.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      PaulT (profile), 4 Dec 2017 @ 9:12am

      Re: Monday, so Karl "somebody hijacked my identity" Bode whining again.

      Reporting accurately on a site created by the New York Attorney General's office = self important whining?

      If so, what does that the pointless crap you spew over this site anonymously, yet done so poorly we can always tell it's the same braindead fool trying to detract from the issues at hand?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
        identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 4 Dec 2017 @ 9:29am

        Re: Re: Monday, so Karl "somebody hijacked my identity" Bode whining again.

        Oh look... it's poor little PaulT whining about people that refuse to drink his flavor of kool-aid.

        You wouldn't know shit if it landed on your face.

        Yes, we are all one and the same. There is no chance that there is more than one anti NN and anti FCC person here. Unlike you, we are able to think for ourselves.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 4 Dec 2017 @ 9:44am

          Re: Re: Re: Monday, so Karl "somebody hijacked my identity" Bode whining again.

          I'm sure he's well aware that there are more than one anti-NN and anti-FCC person here. It's just that there happens to be one or two very prolific posters who can be easily identified by the their idiosyncrasies in the way they write their posts.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 4 Dec 2017 @ 11:03am

          Re: Re: Re: Monday, so Karl "somebody hijacked my identity" Bode whining again.

          Referring to yourself as “we” while decrying multiple other people as a single person suggests that you are quite detached from reality and that you should seek psychiatric help immediately.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          PaulT (profile), 5 Dec 2017 @ 12:51am

          Re: Re: Re: Monday, so Karl "somebody hijacked my identity" Bode whining again.

          That's always one of your best tricks. Whine that people think the anonymous idiots might actually be the same immature child, then absolutely refuse to give any further argument or way to tell the idiots apart.

          I don't really care how many of you there are. One petulant fool or a kindergarten full of you, it doesn't improve the quality or tone of your ranting nonsense. If you don't like being mistaken for one of the other idiots, perhaps you can use the freely available, but still anonymous, methods of us telling you apart. Or, at least tell the other members of your cargo cult to come up with a tactic other than attacking the author of the article for writing about a subject you don't want him to write about.

          "Unlike you, we are able to think for ourselves."

          I doubt it. You might stumble across something relating to verifiable facts or a mature conversation if you did. Your skills at avoiding those things is what leads me to believe it's just the one child posting. There's surely no way the lot of you can all believe the same easily provable lies about NN without someone leading you.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 4 Dec 2017 @ 9:39am

      Re: Monday, so Karl "somebody hijacked my identity" Bode whining again.

      Uh, no, you don't only have his word for it. Anyone can go and search the site for his name and verify his claim. You know, because all the comments are public? Funny how that works.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        PaulT (profile), 5 Dec 2017 @ 12:59am

        Re: Re: Monday, so Karl "somebody hijacked my identity" Bode whining again.

        That pesky reality, undermining his attempt to not look like a raving idiot again!

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    John E Cressman, 4 Dec 2017 @ 9:51am

    Are you kidding me?

    Please don't pretend to be ignorant of the ways of various hackers.

    Hacking 101

    1) Scrap names/emails from various sites
    2) Run script to use emails/names with random comments

    Any 10-year-old script kiddy can have this up in about 10 minutes.

    Don't pretend there's some vast conspiracy THIS time because it's against something your're for. This happens ALL the time.

    The ONLY remarkable thing is why ANYONE believes ANYTHING on the internet. Especially ANYTHING with a submission form.

    Personally, I think the government should either stay away from the internet or declare it a utility and regulate it like they do all of the other utilities.

    Unfortunately, both actions have goods and bads.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Thad, 4 Dec 2017 @ 10:10am

      Re: Are you kidding me?

      I don't see anybody claiming a vast conspiracy. I do see Ajit Pai taking an opportunity granted by an attack to muddy the waters around this particular issue. Do you not understand the difference?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 4 Dec 2017 @ 2:56pm

      Re: Are you kidding me?

      Mostly true. However, and I hope you know this, patterns of comment submission, timestamps, originating IP addresses, putative clients names/versions, passive OS fingerprinting, and so on, can yield information about the patterns of comments.

      Perhaps analysis of all that will yield nothing useful. Perhaps it will yield quite a bit of useful information. However, since the FCC is lying and is refusing to provide all of that information to investigators, there's no way -- yet -- to know.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      PaulT (profile), 5 Dec 2017 @ 1:04am

      Re: Are you kidding me?

      "Don't pretend there's some vast conspiracy THIS time because it's against something your're for. This happens ALL the time."

      It's OK for corporate hackers to interfere with public consultation because it happens all the time? Well, OK, but if you want to stop the government from investigating this, you have to accept whatever the corporations want to bend you over and make you accept.

      "Unfortunately, both actions have goods and bads."

      Sure, especially if the FCC is as underfunded and biased toward corporate interests as they have been in the recent years that has led to the mess the US internet is in right now.

      But, you can't honestly be saying that simply handing it over to corporate monopolies is not worse than retaining the status quo, or introducing regulation on par with other nations that have actual competition and consumer choice?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    That Anonymous Coward (profile), 4 Dec 2017 @ 3:09pm

    Yeah, 10 pages of results for my actual identity...
    Sites so slow its evil.
    I really wish it had the option to limit by state, would make it much easier.

    I was pleased to see that many of my other namesakes were against killing NN.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Rekrul, 4 Dec 2017 @ 3:33pm

    I searched my name and there were several matches in other areas, but I only found two with my location and they were both in opposition to repealing net neutrality. They came from forms I filled in. Unfortunately they look like bots because I wasn't allowed to customize the text that was included.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 4 Dec 2017 @ 4:48pm

    My name was used fraudulently

    Found my name and it was a definite fraud. I had moved in 2016 and this 2017 comment had my old address on it. The comment was pretty hysterical too - the complete opposite of my opinion - we all know whose power grab this is and who is trying to pervert the Internet:
    "To whom it may concern: My comments re: network neutrality regulations. I implore the commissioners to undo Obama's power grab to take over the web. Individuals, rather than the FCC Enforcement Bureau, should be free to enjoy the services they desire. Obama's power grab to take over the web is a perversion of the open Internet. It undid a market-based policy that worked fabulously successfully for many years with nearly universal support."

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Another Anon Coward, 4 Dec 2017 @ 9:45pm

    using the US Postal Service to detect fakery?

    I was not impersonated, but I noticed that two of three comments with my name are duplicates, filed 8 days apart for the same name and address. I wonder if those are real people at real addresses. Do any lawyers out there know if it's legal for private citizens to scrape records off the FCC site and mail a few letters to fellow citizens, using another state AG's address as a return address for the outside envelope and also inside for reporting impersonation (or a legitimate comment) on a post card:

    Dear Citizen,

    Someone created a comment on the U.S. Government's FCC web site attributed to you (enclosed) advocating "light-touch regulation"--a phrase so removed from normal political discourse that we find it difficult to believe you really exist. If you wrote the enclosed comment, kindly mark Box A and return the pre-paid postcard to your A.G. for statistical analysis. If you didn't write the comment, kindly initial box B authorizing your A.G to investigate and prosecute those who impersonated you.

    Warm Regards,
    Mike Coward

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 5 Dec 2017 @ 5:29am

    Yikes

    You need pretty decent broadband to even download a lot of these documents in a reasonable amount of time.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 5 Dec 2017 @ 6:25am

    smell that

    honey pot

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Matthew A. Sawtell, 6 Dec 2017 @ 10:13am

    Looked up my family name - found some "ballot box stuffing"...

    ... by some named Olga Sawtell:

    https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/filing/1910822157287397

    https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/filing/191082203168 679

    ... and another by the name of Joseph Sawtell, but it does not look like the New York AG left a link to report these as well.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 10 Dec 2017 @ 11:53am

    Ajit Pai is such a loser...

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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