Internet companies form new D.C. lobby group

A coalition of some of the world’s largest Internet companies launched a new U.S. lobby group to promote their interests and those of the Internet economy. In a release Wednesday, the newly launched Internet Association said it will lobby Washington policy makers on three areas of interest, including “protecting Internet freedom; fostering innovation and economic growth; and empowering users.” The association will work with other “Main Street businesses and individual users” to represent the interests of its members, the release, which include Google Inc., Facebook Inc., Amazon Inc., AOL Inc., eBay Inc., Expedia Inc., InterActiveCorp (IAC), LinkedIn, Monster Worldwide Inc., Rackspace US Inc., Salesforce.com, TripAdvisor.com, Yahoo! Inc., and Zynga. “The Internet Association and its member companies engage in direct advocacy, educating policymakers on the profound positive impacts of the Internet and Internet companies on jobs, economic growth, freedom, creativity, commerce, productivity, education, prosperity and the global economy,” the group said. In an op-ed posted on the Huffington Post Wednesday, Michael Beckerman, the Internet Association’s president and CEO, said the group was formed in response to U.S. legislators’ “unprecedented effort to censor web content” earlier this year. In January, a number of companies including Yahoo, AOL and eBay voiced their opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in Congress. Beckerman said the bills served as a “wake-up call” for industry players. “These leading companies that form the backbone of the Internet economy recognize that the Internet needs a unified voice,” he wrote. “The Internet Association was formed to protect an innovative and free Internet and to relentlessly represent this critical economic sector, in collaboration with main street businesses and individual users, to ensure that the Internet will always have a seat at the table in Washington.”

Internet companies form new D.C. lobby group

Brief | September 19, 2012

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