AT&T Urges Employees on Net Neutrality

AT&T is enlisting managers in its fight against net neutrality, the idea that there should be equal access to the Internet for all. Over the weekend, AT&T put out a memo to U.S. managers, urging them, along with friends and family members to ask, via e-mail or comments at openinternet.gov, that the Federal Communications Commission not regulate net neutrality.

"It's now time for you to voice your opinion," said the memo from AT&T's Jim Cicconi, senior executive vice president for external and legislative affairs. The memo suggested five talking points for managers to include.

At this Thursday's monthly FCC meeting, it is expected the commision will make two add-ons to its Internet Policy Principles; if so, the principles would then become official FCC rules. One addition would prevent ISPs from discriminating against specific Internet content or applications, while the second one would make sure of ISPs network management transparency.

On the other side of the fence, a group of 30 tech venture capitalists have signed a letter to the FCC to be delivered today. Signees include: John Doerr, early investor in Amazon, Sun Microsystems and Google, Timothy Draper, Michael Moritz of Sequoia Capital, investors in Apple, Atari, and Cisco, founder of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, who funded Skype and Hotmail and Peter Fenton, invester in Twitter and Yelp.

"Permitting network operators to close network platforms or control the applications market by favoring certain kinds of content would endanger innovation and investment in an investment sector that which represents billions of dollars of economic activity", they warned in the letter. The battle is shaping up as old line big Telco companies vs. young tech Silicon Valley powerhouses.