The FCC might not have much choice but to hand over data logs for fake net neutrality comments. A federal judge has ordered (via Gizmodo) the regulator to turn over server records to New York Times reporters that would reveal the IP addresses behind bogus comments supporting the net neutrality repeal. The FCC had contended that divulging the IP addresses would represent an “unwarranted invasion of personal privacy,” but Judge Lorna Schofield said the agency didn’t really explain how anyone would be hurt by transferring the data.
The judge argued that the benefits clearly outweighed the drawbacks, as fake comments threatened the very nature of the public input system. The “notice-and-comment process has failed” if there are more fraudulent comments than real ones,” Schofield said.