Internet Association

Protecting Internet freedom

The Internet Association believes that "the unique nature of the Internet—free from government control and governed by multiple stakeholders—has unleashed unprecedented entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation far beyond imagination. Every day, the Internet provides access to information and personalized content to hundreds of millions of people around the globe—free of charge and free of political interference. Freedom is essential to the preservation of that platform and the resulting economic growth, job creation and political liberty.

The Internet Association supports policies that protect and promote Internet freedom—information should flow freely across national borders, uninhibited by tariffs, regulations and government censorship that are fundamentally inconsistent with the transnational, free, and decentralized nature of the Internet. To preserve the Internet’s role as a conduit for free expression, Internet intermediaries must not be held liable for the speech and activity of Internet users."

Fostering innovation and economic growth

The Internet Association states that "the Internet allows inventors, entrepreneurs, organizations, and individual users to create and innovate in unprecedented ways. The low-to-nonexistent barriers to entry have made the Internet a remarkable growth engine for small businesses, creating jobs in every sector of the economy. Internet users of all kinds are driving this extraordinary pace of innovation.

The Internet Association supports policies that ensure individual users, businesses, and governments are able to freely choose which Internet technologies and platforms to use and support, without those choices being unduly constrained by regulatory structures that cannot keep pace with and often have the unintended consequence of stifling innovation".

Empowering users

The Internet Association says that "Internet-enabled technologies now give all types of users, including individuals, businesses, governments and non-profits, unprecedented control over the content and services they interact with, and the devices and applications they use. The revolution in cloud computing and mobile technologies means that users are no longer tethered to particular locations or devices. Cloud computing has allowed both businesses and individuals to harness massive computing and storage power without needing to buy software or purchase and host the underlying infrastructure themselves.

The Internet Association supports policies that allow all users to take full advantage of the product innovations that technology makes available to them rather than have their choices limited by government mandates. The Internet Association also supports policies that recognize the diversity and value of the business models used by various players in the Internet ecosystem".

History

On July 25, 2012, news outlets reported that several internet companies, including Google, Amazon, eBay and Facebook were founding a new lobbying group. Michael Beckerman was appointed President and CEO of the new Internet Association, set to publicly launch in September 19 of that year.

The association took issue with the FCC's initial net neutrality proposal in July 2014, advocating stronger neutrality rules. The Internet Association later praised the newer rules that surfaced in early 2015 under a title II framework. Additionally, the association applauded the development of net neutrality legislation by the Republican Party in the US Congress, which was developed as an alternative to the FCC reclassification proposal.

The association advocates patent reform legislation, to make it more difficult for patent trolls to sue for patent damages.

The Internet Association is a lobbying group, and reported $1.5 million in political lobbying in the year 2014.

Members

Founding members include Amazon, eBay, Facebook, and Google. Other members include: