Franken, Wyden to SEC: Allow AT&T, Verizon, Comcast shareholders to vote on net neutrality

Democratic Sens. Al Franken (Minn.) and Ron Wyden (Ore.) wrote Wednesday to the Securities and Exchange Commission to say net neutrality is a significant public policy issue, despite a recent SEC finding to the contrary. 

The SEC decided that net neutrality is not a "significant" policy issue for the purposes of a rule that permits shareholders to force a vote on an issue at annual shareholder meetings. The rule is often invoked by social activists. 

This SEC's ruling pertained to shareholder meetings for AT&T, Comcast and Verizon. 

The SEC had decided that net neutrality was not a "significant topic of widespread public debate such that it would be a significant policy issue."

On the contrary, said Wyden and Franken in a letter to SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro. 

"No other telecommunications issue has generated the same amount of public debate, legislative ad regulatory action, and media attention as net neutrality, especially if you look at the last six months," they said. 

The senators described the history of the net-neutrality debate over the last year, including President Obama's statement of support for the FCC's decision to pass regulations as well as the GOP effort to repeal the rules. 

"It is exceedingly rare for telecommunications policy issues to consume such a large amount of congressional resources in just three months time," they said. 

The senators advocate for a shareholder opportunity to "tell corporate boards that net neutrality is an important issue and telecommunications companies should ensure equal, nondiscriminatory access to all content on their networks."