Whitman and eBay are active advocates for Net Neutrality
eBay CEO Meg Whitman sent a second email to members asking for their support in the debate over Net Neutrality. The first email went out in mid-April to 6 million users, and eBay sent an email to another 6 million users this week.
eBay supports Net Neutrality legislation that, in its words, "will prohibit phone and cable companies from replacing the robust open Internet with "Pay to Play" private networks that will force out and discriminate against content and service providers that refuse to pay new tolls."
eBay has previously called on its members to help it lobby legislators on the state and federal level in various matters, in addition to the efforts of its lobbyists around the country. eBay's "Main Street Meeting" program is designed to bring eBay sellers together with eBay Government Relations professionals to discuss "negative government interference" and taxation. The Government Relations section of eBay's website explains these initiatives. The section on Net Neutrality is found on this page: http://www.ebaymainstreet.com/federal/?id=000076
How effective is eBay's outreach to members? According to its Chatter blog, the April email that urged recipients to write their elected officials in Washington in regard to Net Neutrality legislation resulted in more than 300,000 letters (http://ebaychatter.typepad.com/the_chatter/2006/08/netneutrality.html).
