The GAO Says It Will Investigate Bogus Net Neutrality Comments, Eventually
from the fake-people-real-problems dept
The General Accounting Office (GAO) says the agency will launch an investigation into the fraud that occurred during the FCC's rushed repeal of net neutrality rules. Consumers only had one real chance to weigh in during the public comment period of the agency's misleadingly-named "Restoring Internet Freedom" proposal. But "somebody" paid a group or individual to fill the comment period with bogus comments from fake or even dead people, in a ham-fisted attempt to downplay massive, legitimate public opposition to the plan.
The FCC then blocked a law enforcement investigation into the fraud, refusing to hand over server logs or API key data that could easily disclose the culprit(s). FOIA requests and public requests for help (one coming from myself) were also promptly ignored by the Trump FCC.
To help speed things along, the GAO says it will launch an investigation into the bogus comments and the FCC's response to them, though they warn in a letter that it may be at least five months before they have the staff and resources for such an inquiry:
NEWS: GAO has accepted 10 Democrats’ request for an investigation of the pervasiveness of fraudulent comments made during a federal rule making process. pic.twitter.com/fVlBIxBAVG
— Energy Commerce Dems (@EnergyCommerce) January 23, 2018
"Thank you for your letter, jointly signed by a number of your colleagues, requesting that the Government Accountability Office review the extent and pervasiveness of fraud and the misuse of American identities during federal rulemaking processes. GAO accepts your request as work that is within the scope of its authority. At the current time we anticipate that staff with the required skills will be available to initiate an engagement in about five months."
The GAO is also currently investigating apparently bogus claims by the FCC that it suffered a malicious "DDOS attack" the same day HBO's John Oliver drove millions of frustrated citizens to the FCC website to chime in on its blatant hand out to the telecom sector. Both the fake comments and the fake DDOS attack appear to be an attempt to undermine trust in the millions of consumers viciously-opposed to the FCC's plan. Both will also play a starring role in the numerous lawsuits headed the FCC's direction for its blatant disregard of the public interest.
If the GAO or these lawsuits can prove the FCC ignored agency guidelines and the Administrative Procedure Act in its rush to cuddle up to AT&T, Verizon and Comcast, the agency's repeal could prove short lived. That's a major reason why ISPs like Comcast and AT&T are pushing hard for new fake net neutrality legislation that would codify federal apathy into law, pre-empting federal and state efforts to restore the rules--or craft tougher restrictions down the road.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: fake comments, fcc, gao, net neutrality
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Fine. Now melt away, little snowflakes, it's being handled by adults. They know the right way: delay until it's forgotten.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Fine. Now melt away, little snowflakes, it's being handled by adults. They know the right way: delay until it's forgotten.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Fine. Now melt away, little snowflakes, it's being handled by adults. They know the right way: delay until it's forgotten.
Congrats on revealing your stupidity, it was brilliantly put.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Fine. Now melt away, little snowflakes, it's being handled by adults. They know the right way: delay until it's forgotten.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Fine. Now melt away, little snowflakes, it's being handled by adults. They know the right way: delay until it's forgotten.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
A taste of whats to come from the FTC
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Not Accounting for editing
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The investigation should be completed...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Love the secrets act.
It takes very little to hide things for 20-40 years..
Esp WHO voted for what, in reps and congress.
Are these folks being transparent?
Showing us EVERYTHING??
Is this just a Giant SHOW that will never get finished?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]