This week, Free Press, an organization that works on issues related to our rights to connect and communicate, hosted an event on Capitol Hill to discuss the importance of preserving the open Internet.  Senator Al Franken (D-MN), along with reddit founder Alexis Ohanian, Etsy policy director Althea Erickson and actress Ruth Livier participated in the event.

In his opening remarks, Senator Franken said that net neutrality is the First Amendment issue of our time. “All this innovation hasn’t happened just while we’ve had net neutrality,” he said. “It’s happened because we have net neutrality.”

Alexis Ohanian said he was “living proof of what he open and free Internet can provide,” and feared that his website would not have been able to get off the ground without the FCC regulations.

eBay Inc. supports net neutrality and opposes undermining robust open Internet. Read more about eBay Inc.’s position on net neutrality.