Was Your Name Stolen to Support Killing Net Neutrality?

Megalith

Megalith

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New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has launched a new tool for users interested in knowing whether their identity was stolen and used to fraudulently support the FCC's attack on popular net neutrality rules. It also lets you contribute your findings to the AG's ongoing investigation into identity theft.

Schneiderman's office had previously sent a letter to FCC boss Ajit Pai, complaining that the agency ignored more than half a dozen requests for assistance over the last six months in investigating the rampant fraud occurring on the agency website. The FCC could provide details on who utilized the agency's APIs to file such bogus support en masse but has so far turned a cold shoulder to said fraud.
 
Half baked tool. It just searches comments for whatever you put in. Anyone with a common first and last name is going to get results, but near as I can tell there isn’t a way to see if your identity or someone with the same name.
 
Nolan7689 said:
Half baked tool. It just searches comments for whatever you put in. Anyone with a common first and last name is going to get results, but near as I can tell there isn’t a way to see if your identity or someone with the same name.
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Agreed, too general to really be practical. Seems to be click bate.
 
Do they honestly think they used public comments to make a decision? How fucking stupid are these people? Oh wait, they're lawyers? Nevermind, carry on.
 
I was quite surprised that my name popped up. I have a very unique name and I rarely post in public forums. The comments were in opposition to Pai, so I'm not complaining on that. But I wasn't me!
 
Put in my name out of curiosity - yes, it just does a basic search for your name. If you go to file an actual complaint it will also ask if you verified the address of residence when you submit, so there's a bit of "on your honor" there.

I found 8 matches on my name, but I do have a somewhat common name. None of the addresses matched my current residence, but all of them were posted with addresses within a few miles of where I have lived in the past - which made me curiously suspicious. All of the comments were also very similar, with clearly cut&paste verbage in favor of Paj.
 
Having an uncommon last name I was able to look it up. Seems only my uncle, who is pro net neutrality, was on there. it had his address too which is scary. Looks to be if you had your identity stolen before it is going to be on here.
 
As others have pointed out, the name matching by itself is meaningless without an address to go along with it. There are 325 million living in the US. Of course there are going to be name collisions.

Now thinking about it, the address could be randomized with any given name. Given the collisions that a name would have, it would make much more sense to perform a search by address first. Then you could doubly verify the name and address do not match (i.e. faked).

I suspect this was whipped up (by lawyers no less) really fast. A little more thought into it and the tool could have a little more weight in supporting the argument.
 
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I think they should block copy and paste comments. I found my name on that list, but it wasn't fake. I actually submitted for net neutrality, and found it. :D
 
My name didn't show up but my Ant's name did. It was so funny that I had to print it and show her what she's been saying about Net Neutrality. I also have a cousin who also wrote on there and it's certainly not him. I wonder if the people who wrote this can be sued for defamation of public image? The FCC should know what IP was used to post these comments on there.
 
I did a search for my last name, as it's not very common, found two pages of comments, mostly identical. However, one of the copy/pasted comments was issued using my dad's name at an address he previously lived at, but listed as having been submitted in August. Fraud confirmed.
 
Nolan7689 said:
Half baked tool. It just searches comments for whatever you put in. Anyone with a common first and last name is going to get results, but near as I can tell there isn’t a way to see if your identity or someone with the same name.
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You can search by address and zipcode as well.
 
Has to be a stunt if Schneiderman is behind it. He's the real fraud.
 
Nolan7689 said:
Half baked tool. It just searches comments for whatever you put in. Anyone with a common first and last name is going to get results, but near as I can tell there isn’t a way to see if your identity or someone with the same name.
Click to expand...
It's pretty easy if you have an entirely unique name. Also addresses are included in the filings.
 
I typed in my name, and it returned a few filings that included either my first name or my last name, but none of those had any that included both my first & last name. Still, I guess it's better than no tool at all
 
twonunpackmule said:
Regulation has prevented competition. Just look at the local ROW laws.
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It really depends on how it's done. Local and state governments have caused a lot of issues, but the FCC has the power to break a lot of that and to force ISPs to allow competition in.
 
Derangel said:
It really depends on how it's done. Local and state governments have caused a lot of issues, but the FCC has the power to break a lot of that and to force ISPs to allow competition in.
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So does the FTC, which currently has authorization over competition regulations. FCC needs to butt out, and let the proper authorities handle it. Then we can have a sane conversation about the issues. FCC reclassification is a government power grab, plain and simple. If you support free (as in freedom) Internet, you should be fully supporting the repeal of the reclassification.
 
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jardows said:
So does the FTC, which currently has authorization over competition regulations. FCC needs to butt out, and let the proper authorities handle it. Then we can have a sane conversation about the issues. FCC reclassification is a government power grab, plain and simple. If you support free (as in freedom) Internet, you should be fully supporting the repeal of the reclassification.
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The FTC has already said they don't plan to do anything. The FCC handles all COMMUNICATION it is part of their name. All forms of communication are under the direction of the FCC. They were created for that very purpose. The FTC has no power to enforce Net Nutrality nor do they have any power over lines of communication. The FTC has very little say when communication companies want to merge. That is all the FCC and DOJ. The FTC has no authority over wireless bands. So don't give me this bullshit about it being the FTC's duty. Pai is feeding everyone a load of shit and people are eating it up pretending it's a some prime cut of beef. This IS the FCC's duty. Passing the buck to an organization they know has no power just makes things better for the ISPs.
 
It's interesting to see the people in my town that signed this. Some in prison, some in the ground.... Weird. Some for and some against. At this point, I'd say it's spoiled. Cancel any vote on the issue until a proper way to get consumer feedback is introduced. As it stands, the whole thing is a fraud.
 
Derangel said:
The FTC has already said they don't plan to do anything. The FCC handles all COMMUNICATION it is part of their name. All forms of communication are under the direction of the FCC. They were created for that very purpose. The FTC has no power to enforce Net Nutrality nor do they have any power over lines of communication. The FTC has very little say when communication companies want to merge. That is all the FCC and DOJ. The FTC has no authority over wireless bands. So don't give me this bullshit about it being the FTC's duty. Pai is feeding everyone a load of shit and people are eating it up pretending it's a some prime cut of beef. This IS the FCC's duty. Passing the buck to an organization they know has no power just makes things better for the ISPs.
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I was specifically referencing the competition argument - over which the FCC has no inherent authority. Look at all the telecommunication mergers that have been proposed/enacted - it wasn't the FCC looking at it, it was the FTC. The FCC just decided that after ~30 years of use, they needed to reclassify Internet and take full control, meaning they - an unelected body of unaccountable individuals - can do anything they wanted to. They just threw in some "Net Neutrality" stuff to make some people happy, and get support for their power grab. Get rid of this reclassification, and have an actual debate about Net Neutrality, and try to get it enacted without the specter of a government agency being able to change the rules at a whim.
 
jardows said:
I was specifically referencing the competition argument - over which the FCC has no inherent authority. Look at all the telecommunication mergers that have been proposed/enacted - it wasn't the FCC looking at it, it was the FTC. The FCC just decided that after ~30 years of use, they needed to reclassify Internet and take full control, meaning they - an unelected body of unaccountable individuals - can do anything they wanted to. They just threw in some "Net Neutrality" stuff to make some people happy, and get support for their power grab. Get rid of this reclassification, and have an actual debate about Net Neutrality, and try to get it enacted without the specter of a government agency being able to change the rules at a whim.
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Yes, the FCC does have authority. The FCC can force ISPs to allow competition in by forcing them to charge fair rates for use of their communication lines. You act like our elected officials are any better. These dumbfucks just added over a trillion dollars to the national debt and gave themselves, and our asshat of a president, a massive tax break. It would be better if the FTC and FCC were more free of intervention by people that give no fucks about people and were able to be free of all of this political bullshit.
 
mygreeneggsandham said:
No fraud here. I legitimately support repealing govt regulations on the net.
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Totally bruh. If it werent for gov't regulation we wouldnt have the duopoly and exploitation of city ordinances we do now. Comcast just had no choice but to crush the competition thanks to the government's heavy hand.

Obviously the side sending in these fake repeal requests has absolutely nothing to gain, must all just be some sick 4chan prank or something. You have chosen your allegiance wisely.
 
Apparently nobody cares enough about what I think to even fake an opinion from me.
 
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