Sorry, but there was just no way we’d be able to refrain from referencing Beastie Boys songs/lyrics in this one: Michael Diamond, aka Mike D, has teamed up with two other investors, including his wife, to sabotage AT&T’s attempt to not allow shareholders to vote on resolutions supporting wireless net-neutrality in yearly shareholder votes.

Businessweek says the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission told AT&T and other telecommunications companies that such a resolution is now a requirement. Net neutrality is the idea that Internet service providers must treat all traffic equally, and the SEC says it has become a “significant policy consideration” that should not be excluded from shareholder ballots.

AT&T didn’t want anything to do with that, saying in a letter from their lawyers that the proposal would “would directly interfere with its network management practices and seriously impair its ability to provide wireless broadband service to its customers.”

Here’s where Mike D comes in — he, his wife Tamra Davis and John P. Silva, of Silva Management (they rep the Foo Fighters and Beck, FYI), were represented by Trillium Asset Management LLC, which has been leading the fight for shareholder groups to force telecommunications companies to require the net-neutrality resolutions.

So yes, we owe it all to Mike D! Licensed to Ill! Yay!

AT&T Must Let Beastie Boy Vote on Net Neutrality, SEC Says [Businessweek]

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