Last week the information commissioner 's office the body that administers the freedom of information act said the university of east anglia had flouted the rules in its handling of an foi request in may 2008 .
Climate change sceptics asked the uea , via foi requests , for location data for the 84 weather stations in eastern china , half of which were urban and half rural .
The panel did criticise the scientists for not being open enough about their work , and said they were " unhelpful and defensive " when responding to legitimate requests made under freedom of information ( foi ) laws .
