This sponsored post is produced by The Webby Awards.
Actor and comedian Patton Oswalt kicked off The 18th Annual Webby Awards with an opening monologue that simultaneously honored and poked fun at the weird and wonderful world of the Web.
“Any bitcoin people in the crowd?” he quipped. “Are you broke or wealthy? What time is it?”
He also spared no barbs for the FCC and its latest efforts to kill net neutrality: “Please stop the bullshit about making the Internet ‘fast lane.’ You’re not making an Internet fast lane. You’re making the other lanes slower,” he said to applause.
(See Patton’s full monologue here.)
The Webbys were held on Monday, May 19, at Cipriani Wall Street, where winners and industry insiders alike gathered to enjoy Oswalt’s scotch-infused commentary – and, of course, to celebrate the best of the Web.
Among last night’s winners were Special Achievement honorees like De La Soul, named Artist of the Year for giving away their entire catalogue as a free digital download; Kickstarter, named Breakout of the Year for revolutionizing the way projects get funded; and Taylor Schilling, who took home the Actress of the Year Webby for Orange Is the New Black.
Each year The Webbys also honors a Lifetime Achievement Winner, and 2014’s was Dr. Lawrence Lessig, co-founder of Creative Commons and a true champion of the open Web, who gave this five-word speech: “So, I’m not dead yet.”
It was a great year overall for five-word speeches (a Webby hallmark), which ran the gamut from inspirational to zany — such as “‘Eventually everything connects,’ Charles Eames,” from Dots; and “We’re sleeping in your bed,” from Airbnb. (Check out Five-Word Speech highlights here.)
With this year marking the 25th anniversary of the Web, attendees were also treated to an especially moving speech by the founder of the Web himself, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, in defense of the free and open Internet.
“In this particular country, where we happen to be right now, the battle must rage again,” he said.
He followed that up with a poignant three-word speech: “Up to us.”
Watch the full moment here.
You can catch all the highlights from The 18th Annual Webbys by heading over to youtube.com/TheWebbyAwards. To be notified about future uploads from The Webbys just hit subscribe.
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