Social media is one of the most remarkable developments of the Internet revolution. One need look no further than Egypt, the United Kingdom, the United States, Syria, or Libya to view the influence that online communities have had in the political sphere. Now, this power has come to the business world, specifically the marketplace for equity shares in business startups.

On April 5, 2012, President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, better known as the JOBS Act. The Act is designed to “reopen American capital markets to small companies,” defined as “emerging growth companies.” I believe this is one of the most significant legislative initiatives since the Securities and Exchange Acts of 1933 and 1934. This law changes everything.

A composite of several pieces of proposed legislation,1 the final version of the JOBS Act, H.R. 3606, was passed by the House of Representatives on March 7, 2012. The Senate passed its version of the legislation on March 22, 2012. Supporters included the National Venture Capital Association, the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, the National Small Business Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the International Franchise Association, and the Biotechnology Industry Organization. Crowdfunding platform Indiegogo also supported the law. Opponents included the American Association of Retired Persons and the North American Securities Administrators Association. The owner of crowdfunding platform Kickstarter has indicated that his firm is “not gearing up for the equity wave if it comes.2”