An investigation conducted by the Inspector General shows that the FCC never suffered from a DDoS attack last year, as it claimed, when the agency began accepting public comments about its plans to neuter net neutrality. Instead, the system was overwhelmed by those wishing to voice their opinions. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai (PDF) blamed the issue on the “prior administration.”
FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel (PDF) didn’t pull any punches:
“The Inspector General Report tells us what we knew all along: the FCC’s claim that it was the victim of a DDoS attack during the net neutrality proceeding is bogus. What happened instead is obvious — millions of Americans overwhelmed our online system because they wanted to tell us how important internet openness is to them and how distressed they were to see the FCC roll back their rights. It’s unfortunate that this agency’s energy and resources needed to be spent debunking this implausible claim.”
Fight for the Future deputy director Evan Greer released the following statement:
“Under Ajit Pai’s leadership, the FCC sabotaged its own public comment process. From ignoring millions of fraudulent comments using stolen names and addresses to outright lies about DDoS attacks that never happened, the agency recklessly abdicated its responsibility to maintain a functional way for the public to be heard. Pai attempts to blame his staff, but this happened on his watch, and he repeatedly obstructed attempts by lawmakers and the press to get answers. The repeal of net neutrality was not only unpopular, it was illegitimate. Congress must act now to pass the CRA resolution to reverse this decision and restore basic protections for Internet freedom.”
Under Pai’s leadership, the FCC’s net neutrality rules were killed in June.
