Questions Raised Whether FCC Really Saw Net Neutrality-Related Cyberattacks

on net neutrality (see 1705080042). Oliver directed viewers to “gofccyourself.com,” which redirects to the comment filing site. A former senior FCC official told us the problem is the FCC never really fixed ECFS after the last time it crashed in 2014 under similar circumstances, and three years ago, the agency made similar claims of a cyberattack. “Fight for the Future is extremely skeptical of the FCC's claim that they experienced a DDoS attack at the exact same time that large numbers of people would have been commenting on their site in support of Title II net neutrality protections following John Oliver's viral segment on Sunday,” the group said in a statement Tuesday. “We have now read that the FCC is claiming this also happened in 2014 during the last John Oliver segment about the issue, and we are even more skeptical.” The FCC should release its logs “to an independent security researcher or major media outlet who can verify their claims and inform the public about what really happened here,” the group said. “The agency has a responsibility to maintain a functioning website to receive large numbers of comments and feedback from the public.” Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, are probing the FCC statement. They sent a letter to the commission Tuesday asking several questions and urging the FCC to set up an alternate way to comment if need be, such as a dedicated email address. Schatz first made that suggestion in a Monday tweet. “Any potentially hostile cyber activities that prevent Americans from being able to participate in a fair and transparent process must be treated as a serious issue,” they wrote. They want answers by June 8: “Has the FCC sought assistance from other federal agencies in investigating and responding to these attacks? … Did the DDoS attacks prevent the public from being able to submit comments through the FCC’s website? If so, do you have an estimate of how many individuals were unable to access the FCC website or submit comments during the attacks? … Does the FCC have all of the resources and expertise it needs in order to combat attacks like those that occurred on May 8?” The FCC received and is reviewing the letter, a commission spokesman said. Matt Wood, policy director at Free Press, said his group has similar questions. "We share the skepticism, and at minimum hope the FCC will demonstrate that it's not characterizing a flood of comments as an attack,” Wood told us. Scott Cleland, chairman of NetCompetition, slammed the Oliver segment in an opinion article in The Hill. Cleland said Oliver is likely to have little impact given the makeup of the current FCC under Chairman Ajit Pai. “Is net neutrality policy the joke here?” Cleland asked. “Or is the joke really that net neutrality activists think late night comedy is the most effective way for them to influence the FCC on public policy?” Public interest group Popular Resistance said it launched a new campaign, Protect Our Internet. The group urged net neutrality supporters to engage in a campaign of “Ajit-ation.”