Net neutrality's deliverance was on the minds of dozens of well-known websites pledging their support by participating in Wednesday's “Internet-Wide Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality.”
July 12 had been earmarked for the day and various companies, organizations and websites confirmed their participation in the campaign to defend net neutrality. Included on the list were heavyweights like Amazon, Etsy, Reddit, Vimeo, Netflix, BitTorrent, Change.org and Dropbox.
The official website created for “Day of Action,” Battleforthenet.com, urged the public to also pledge their support and fight for freedom of the internet.
“Cable companies want to get rid of net neutrality," said the website. "Without it, sites like ours could be censored, slowed down, or forced to charge extra fees. We can stop them and keep the Internet open, fast, and awesome if we all contact Congress and the FCC, but we only have a few days left.”
The idea behind “Day of Action” was that websites display a prominent alert on their homepage showing what a webpage could look like if net neutrality were to no longer exist.
“Net neutrality is the basic principle that protects our free speech on the Internet,” stated the online protest. “’Title II’ of the Communications Act is what provides the legal foundation for net neutrality and prevents Internet Service Providers like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T from slowing down and blocking websites, or charging apps and sites extra fees to reach an audience (which they then pass along to consumers.)”
Net neutrality regulations passed in 2015 by the Federal Communications Commission were “meant to prevent broadband companies from favoring their own content over competitors' services or charging fees to deliver faster service,” noted CNET.
The FCC under President Donald Trump has been methodically undoing the rules.