The FCC may have voted yesterday along party lines to overturn the 2015 net neutrality rules, but New York’s Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is leading an effort to challenge the regulator’s decision.
He will lead a multi-state lawsuit to stop the rollback of net neutrality.
“The FCC’s vote to rip apart net neutrality is a blow to New York consumers, and to everyone who cares about a free and open internet,” Schneiderman said. “The FCC just gave Big Telecom an early Christmas present, by giving internet service providers yet another way to put corporate profits over consumers. Today’s rollback will give ISPs new ways to control what we see, what we do, and what we say online. That’s a threat to the free exchange of ideas that’s made the Internet a valuable asset in our democratic process."
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New York’s AG had joined other lawmakers in calling for a delay of the vote as his office investigated fraud during the FCC open comment period, which he says resulted in more than 2 million Americans having their identities stolen.
Schneiderman has been investigating the flood of fake comments submitted during the net neutrality comment process for seven months. According to the Attorney General’s latest analysis, two million comments stole the identities of real Americans—including over 100,000 comments per state from New York, Florida, Texas, and California.
“The vote also follows a public comment process that was deeply corrupted, including two million comments that stole the identities of real people,” Schneiderman said. “This is a crime under New York law—and the FCC’s decision to go ahead with the vote makes a mockery of government integrity and rewards the very perpetrators who scammed the system to advance their own agenda.”