John Donahoe participated in a high-profile panel discussion at the e-G8 Forum in Paris, along with other major Internet leaders such as Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Eric Schmidt of Google, and Jeffrey Bezos of Amazon. The first-of-its-kind event preceded the meeting of the G8, comprised of the heads of state and government of the Group of Eight – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the U.K. and the U.S. Topics included Internet freedom and the digital ecosystem.
As a part of the Internet & Economic Growth Panel, Donahoe had the opportunity to talk about the role eBay and the Internet as a whole play in creating economic opportunity for millions of people globally. The panel conversation revolved around the Internet’s impact on the economy and society via economic growth, job creation, and value creation.
There were some interesting stats about eBay – 17,000 employees, 100 million people use eBay or PayPal each month, 25 million people sell something on eBay each month and 1.3 million people worldwide make their primary or secondary income on eBay.
Even more interesting was the conclusion that government regulation of the Internet should be light to avoid stifling innovation.
The panel discussion was broadcast live on Facebook and is now available to replay on YouTube.
One Response
How many people sell via the internet and don’t pay tax on their earnings? I wonder if goverments are meeting internet big wigs for tax purposes?