For decades, the global market has been dominated by big business and the leaders of industry. However, through the power of the Internet and mobile technology, small businesses are now able to reach beyond their local communities and access global markets. As commerce continues to change and evolve and new businesses and entrepreneurs are leveraging the power of the Internet, eBay  Inc. is focused on helping small and medium sized businesses access global markets.

This week, the Internet Association filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding their Open Internet proceedings. The Internet Association represents a number of Internet companies, including eBay Inc., Google, Facebook, Yahoo and others. 

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3086, the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act (PITFA), by voice vote. The bill would make permanent the law that prevents state and local governments from imposing new taxes on Internet access, and prohibits any multiple or discriminatory taxes on e-commerce. The current law was set to expire on November 1^st, and the House of Representatives moved quickly to pass a bill that would protect consumers and businesses across the country from seeing their bills go up in November.

This article was originally posted on MaderyBridge.com. 

This morning the US House of Representatives will debate H.R. 3086, the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act. The Act would permanently protect consumers from the increased costs in accessing and using the Internet by extending the moratorium on Internet access taxes, and would also prevent the multiple and discriminatory taxation of Internet sales.

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.

This week, John Muller with the eBay Inc.

This week, Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY) filed the Marketplace Fairness Act as an amendment to the Highway Trust Fund bill currently pending in the U.S. Senate.  Senator Enzi’s aides confirmed that the amendment is the same Internet sales tax language that was passed last May in the Senate. 

Brian Fricano, a tech-enabled small business owner in Bloomfield, Colorado, recently submitted an opinion piece to the Daily Camera that urged federal lawmakers to not pass an Internet sales tax bill that would prevent small businesses from prospering.