3 Companies Settle With NY AG for Fake Net Neutrality Comments to FCC
Three companies agreed to settle after an investigation by the New York Office of the Attorney General found millions of fake comments to the FCC on repeal of net neutrality rules (see 2105060058). LCX, Lead ID and Ifficient agreed to…
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pay a combined $615,000, said a news release Wednesday. LCX will pay $400,000 to New York and $100,000 to the San Diego District Attorney’s Office. Lead ID will pay $30,000 to New York. Ifficient will pay $63,750 to New York, and $21,250 to Colorado. “Public comment opportunities are a chance for Americans to give their input on important government policies, and these companies abused that for their own selfish purposes,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James (D): "Through this agreement, we are holding three more companies accountable for impersonating Americans without their knowledge or consent." The investigation found LCX and Lead ID "each independently fabricated responses for 1.5 million consumers," while Ifficient "supplied its client with more than 840,000 fake responses it had received from the lead generators it had hired." The settlement noted that "firms working on behalf of the broadband industry" hired Ifficient to provide public comments to the FCC, but the company "misrepresent[ed] that the consumers had expressly consented to the submission of a public comment in their name and on their behalf."