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FCC’s comment system targeted by DDoS during filing period for net neutrality

techcrunch.com

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Re: FCC’s comment system targeted by DDoS during filing period for net neutrality

#11

Post by wcarron »

Real confirmation of an attack would be a nice-to-have in this situation. I can see 3 probable realities:

1. The sheer volume of commenters and responses took down the system. They cover it by saying a DDoS attack was the cause. 2. They are intent on crippling Net Neutrality anyway, and either designed the system to insufficiently handle traffic and call it a DDos or even DDos themselves. 3. Since there are groups with vested interest in removing net neutrality, and they have deep pockets, I can easily see a few groups moving to protect their interests. In other words, a legitimate DDoS attack.

All 3 seem equally likely to me, especially considering Ajit Pai's stance on NN. This is not encouraging as a citizen of the US.

Re: FCC’s comment system targeted by DDoS during filing period for net neutrality

#14

Post by dragonwriter »

EGreg wrote: post #9

Oh yeah, like these comments really matter this time around. A certain sector of society elects Donald Trump, who appoints the new FCC chair, and they'll do whatever they want within legal possibilities. Do you really think the sector of society which most cares about this rule change will affect the outcome with comments? They will no more do so than scientists will affect the budget of the EPA with comments.

The comments will affect the record which will potentially be relevant in subsequent proceedings, including lawsuits. It probably won't materially affect the initial policy outcome, sure.

Re: FCC’s comment system targeted by DDoS during filing period for net neutrality

#15

Post by binarymax »

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #12

Besides the ISPs and the Government (rather, the part that wants this), who has anything to gain by this?

If net neutrality goes away, then incumbent corporations with existing foothold and ISP partnerships may get a monopolistic-like advantage.

Re: FCC’s comment system targeted by DDoS during filing period for net neutrality

#16

Post by unityByFreedom »

EGreg wrote: post #9

Oh yeah, like these comments really matter this time around. A certain sector of society elects Donald Trump, who appoints the new FCC chair, and they'll do whatever they want within legal possibilities. Do you really think the sector of society which most cares about this rule change will affect the outcome with comments? They will no more do so than scientists will affect the budget of the EPA with comments.

Trump is as much a politician as anyone. He's so worried about his rep, he's actually trying to build the wall.

If people are against this en masse -- he won't touch it. My guess is he backs down or takes a neutral stance, just like Wheeler did on net neutrality, and like Obama did on encryption.

I mean, you know behind the scenes they're trying like hell to get rid of net neutrality, but they can't do that in the face of a public outcry.

This is one issue that is not red/blue. The hackery of Trump's campaign operated through the open internet, and I think the tech crowd on both sides of the aisle realize that removing net neutrality would just enrich the ISPs and would do nothing to improve our internet speeds or access to diverse content.

Re: FCC’s comment system targeted by DDoS during filing period for net neutrality

#17

Post by JustSomeNobody »

binarymax wrote: post #15
JustSomeNobody wrote: post #12

Besides the ISPs and the Government (rather, the part that wants this), who has anything to gain by this?

If net neutrality goes away, then incumbent corporations with existing foothold and ISP partnerships may get a monopolistic-like advantage.

Ah, good point. I wasn't thinking about the Corps with existing partnerships.

Re: FCC’s comment system targeted by DDoS during filing period for net neutrality

#18

Post by unityByFreedom »

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #12

Besides the ISPs and the Government (rather, the part that wants this), who has anything to gain by this?

Large content providers, for one.

Basically, any business that uses the internet as a primary tool could spend to boost their priority with ISPs. That benefits basically any big company while screwing us because we can't choose a different ISP.

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