The titans of the Web–Facebook, Google, eBay and Amazon–have joined forces to make their voices heard in Washington, forming a powerful lobbying group called the Internet Association. The companies already collectively spend millions to lobby regulators and legislators on a variety of issues, but as a unified group they’re hoping to become major players in shaping legislation.
Hopefully, the members of the association will keep to Google’s unofficial slogan of “Don’t Be Evil,” and fight for user privacy and security against government intrusion. If these companies become entrenched parts of the political system, however, and yield to government demands for release of private data, Internet users around the world could be in for a lot of trouble.
–Posted by Christian Neumeister
Al-Jazeera:
Web giants Google, Amazon, eBay and Facebook will form a lobbying organisation with other online companies to shape political and regulatory issues in Washington DC, according to the Reuters news agency.
The organisation, to be called the Internet Association, will open its doors in September and will act as a unified voice for major internet companies, Michael Beckerman, the association’s president, said on Wednesday.