Open internet: presidential candidates ignore online controversy

President Barack Obama and his Republican opponent Mitt Romney both argue that innovation is key to creating a strong US economy. Yet critics claim both candidates have largely ignored one of the crucial issues of the internet age: how to keep the web open so ideas and information are accessible to all.

According to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, internet freedom is essential for entrepreneurial start-ups to develop the kind of innovative products and services that will drive the economy in the 21st Century. Ohanian crossed the US this month in a bus tour to argue that an open internet - with all links having equal status rather than being put in a hierarchy determined by price or regulation - matters to everyone, not just "geeks".