"AeA supports the entrepreneurial environment that fostered enormous growth of content and services available to consumers," said William T. Archey, President & CEO, AeA. "The low barriers to entry for such innovators must be preserved in the future for the overall Internet ecosystem to continue to successfully expand. Consumers should be given the final word as to what content and services succeed or fail on the Internet."

In order to encourage broadband deployment and preserve and promote the open and interconnected nature of public Internet, AeA will recommend to Congress these principles that, with strong FCC rule-making and enforcement authority, will ensure that consumer choice and connectivity are preserved, as well as true Net Neutrality:

• Consumers should have access to their choice of legal Internet content;
• Consumers are entitled to run applications and services of their choice as long as they do not harm the network;
• Consumers are entitled to connect their choice of legal devices that do not harm the network;
• Consumers are entitled to competition among network providers. This includes receiving meaningful information regarding their broadband Internet service plans; and
• Consumers, application service providers and online service providers should be protected from anticompetitive and unreasonably discriminatory conduct by broadband network providers.

"Specifically, these principles are meant to help guide legislators and regulators in their efforts to protect consumers, application service providers and online service providers from anticompetitive and unreasonably discriminatory conduct by broadband network providers," concluded Archey.

The new AeA policy was approved unanimously by AeA’s Executive Committee of the Board of Directors.