As the Internet takes an increasingly prominent role in public and private life, from engaging in commerce to using social media platforms, the need for representation is perhaps long overdue. A new trade organization that represents the interests of this Internet economy, The Internet Association (IA), formally launched on Wednesday.
The IA is composed of 14 companies — Amazon.com, AOL, eBay, Expedia, Facebook, Google, IAC, LinkedIn, Monster Worldwide, Rackspace, salesforce.com, TripAdvisor, Yahoo! and Zynga—that seek to advocate for a free and open Internet for businesses and individual users through public policy.
"A free and innovative Internet is vital to our nation’s economic growth," said Michael Beckerman, President and CEO of the IA, in a press release. "These companies are all fierce competitors in the market place, but they recognize the Internet needs a unified voice in Washington."
According to the announcement, the IA’s policy platform has three planks: protecting Internet freedom, fostering innovation and economic growth, and empowering users. The member companies of IA want to advocate to legislators on the importance of the Internet on many facets of public life, including the economy, creativity and education.
In an op-ed originally published in the Huffington Post, Beckerman wrote that one of the reasons for launching this association was in the wake of proposed legislation that "nearly altered the Internet’s fundamental DNA," in particular referring to the online backlash in January 2012 due to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).
"Policymakers must understand that our country, and the world, depends on a free Internet," Beckerman wrote in his op-ed. "The Internet Association, and millions of active users (and voters), stand ready to protect a free Internet and the innovation it fosters."
