'Network Neutrality' key to free and open Internet

[Commentary] The authors respond to an op-ed Andrew Keen of Arts + Labs, a thinly veiled front group for AT&T, Verizon and handful of big media companies that has hired a crew of flacks and shills to attack anyone who dares to question the wisdom and benevolence of Ma Bell.

Keen, whom the popular blog Boing Boing has described as "a notorious spammer, failed Web 1.0 entrepreneur, blog-hating blogger, and luddite troll," is a natural fit there. He even once compared Nazis favorably to the Internet, saying "even the Nazis didn't put artists out of work."

When it comes to Internet freedom, the United States of America can be a beacon to the rest of the world. But we must start at home. We need to protect consumers, prevent discrimination and prohibit Internet service providers from interfering with Internet traffic just to increase their profits. A majority of the Federal Communications Commission is already committed to Net Neutrality. And when the agency asked for public input on the issue recently, they received comments from 200,000 individuals - running 9-to-1 in favor of strong Net Neutrality rules. If this is the fringe, we're glad to be in the middle of it. From here, it looks like AT&T, Comcast, Verzion, Time Warner Cable, even with all their lobbyists and paid mouthpieces, are the ones who are outside the mainstream. Maybe that isolation is why they're so angry.