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"While Barack Obama and Mitt Romney criss-cross the country in the quest to win the White House, another bus will travel from Colorado to Kentucky \u2014 not in support of a candidate, but of an idea.\nThat idea: an open Internet.\nThe Internet 2012 Bus Tour, organized by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and General Manager Erik Martin, will travel more than 1,000 miles of highway to talk to startup owners, college students, political candidates and local media about the Internet and its importance to the American economy and way of life. \nThe tour will also organize meetups and voter registration drives along the way as well as help draw attention to candidates the organizers view as Internet-friendly.\n\"In January, we had more than 20 million Americans say no to two awful bills, SOPA and PIPA,\" Ohanian told Mashable. \"Since then, we've drafted a Declaration of Internet Freedom, created the Internet Defense League and worked with both parties to get open Internet language into their platforms. \n\"[The bus tour] is one more step for trying to get Internet freedom into the future of the country.\" \nWhile some may scoff at the idea that Internet issues should take precedence over the larger economic troubles facing the country, Martin argues that the two are more interrelated than some might think.\n\"The open Internet isn't just about startups, it's a platform for American innovation,\" wrote Martin in an email to Mashable. \"The open Internet powers companies that are helping small businesses and local governments be more efficient with their resources. The open Internet provides access to global markets for American business of all sectors, be it new manufacturing operations or someone selling hand-knit scarves online so they can afford a vacation for their family.\"\nWhile Reddit is fronting some of the trip's cost, Ohanian and Martin have opened an IndieGoGo campaign for their supporters to contribute a total of $40,000 in additional funds. \nThose small contributions, they believe, will give everyday Internet users more of a stake in the bus tour's mission.\n\"We wanted this to be crowdfunded, funded by the people of the Internet, not backed by one or two non-profits or even for-profits,\" said Ohanian.\nUltimately, the bus tour's mission is to convince the nation's politicians that Internet freedom isn't a red issue or a blue issue, but something about which everybody cares. Appropriately, the paint job for the bus is a half-blue, half-red design.\n\"It's different from the [presidential campaign] buses we're emulating \u2014 we're promoting the thing written on the side of the bus, but it's not a person's last name, it's the Internet,\" said Ohanian. \"However, I don't think the Internet is running for office, sadly. But we're going to make it clear that Internet freedom is something voters are basing their vote on.\"\nThe tour's fundraising mission ends on Sept. 18. You can keep up with the latest about the Internet Bus Tour at reddit.com/r/internet2012.\nWould you vote for a candidate based on their Internet policy? Have your say in the comments."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2012/08/23/internet-bus-tour/>