Judge Rules Against FCC in Net Neutrality Comments FOIA Scrap
The public interest in the FCC disclosing the IP addresses, user-agent headers and related time stamps of net neutrality proceeding comments filed in its electronic comment filing system "is great because the importance of the comment process to agency rulemaking…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
is great." That's according to Judge Lorna Schofield of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in an order Thursday (in Pacer, docket 18-cv-08607) granting a summary judgment motion by New York Times Co. It sued after the agency denied its Freedom of Information Act request for the application programming interface proxy server log containing the requested information (see 1809200023). The order denied an FCC motion for summary judgment and a Times motion for Plaintiffs’ motion for reasonable attorneys’ fees. The commission didn't comment. Litigation "should not have been necessary to get this vital information," emailed Benton Institute Senior Counselor Andrew Schwartzman. "I hope the Commission will now comply promptly rather than drag things out with appeals that will not succeed." Tweeted Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel: "It's time for the agency to come clean."