In a large scale, online display of solidarity, dozens of online and e-commerce companies including Amazon, Vimeo, Reddit, OK Cupid, Mozilla, the ACLU, Etsy, AdBlock, Medium, Dropbox, Redfin, Spotify and Yelp banded together yesterday – July 12 – for an “Internet-Wide Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality.”

Business Insider reports that yesterday sites that joined the effort displayed prominent alerts on their homepage – banner ads, sidebar ads, videos, images, blog posts, etc. – to show what the web might look like if net neutrality is repealed by the FCC. WIRED reports that more than 100,000 websites and organizations participated in the protest.

Here is a sample of Vimeo’s home page on Wednesday:

Vimeo also published this video to explain net neutrality in simple terms:

Why we need net neutrality from Vimeo Staff on Vimeo.

Here are examples of how some of the protestors are reaching out to their customers:

Amazon – A sidebar ad on the right, “below the fold.”

Reddit – A pop-up message

Sonic – A pop-up message

Medium – A banner ad linking back to BattleForTheNet.com.

Netflix – A banner ad linking to the NetNeutrality.InternetAssociation.org/Action

As we reported in our article “How Net Neutrality Impacts Your Subscription Business,” net neutrality was passed by the FCC, under chair Tom Wheeler’s leadership, in 2015 to protect consumers and companies from cable and broadband Internet companies who could give preferential treatment to certain companies in exchange for a fee or some other consideration. The current rules prohibit Internet Service Providers (ISPs) like Comcast, Verizon, Time Warner Cable and AT&T from blocking, throttling or allowing businesses “pay to play” to get better, faster access.

Wheeler was ousted by President Donald Trump in January and replaced with Ajit Pai, who has opposed net neutrality since it originally passed. Pai is proposing that net neutrality be repealed. Pai says that oversight of the Internet by the FCC is heavy-handed and unnecessary.

“Proponents of Internet regulation claimed that without new rules, the Internet would devolve into a digital dystopia of fast lanes and slow lanes, where service providers would treat traffic differently based on payments. And they argued that the only way for the government to prevent this outcome was to adopt an old regulatory framework called Title II – originally designed in the 1930s for the Ma Bell telephone monopoly – and apply it to thousands of Internet service providers, big and small. In other words, they wanted lawyers and bureaucrats to govern the Internet rather than engineers, technologists and businesses,” wrote Pai in a April op-ed piece for the L.A. Times.

Pai officially proposed the repeal of net neutrality under Title II of the Communications Act in May. The proposal is open for public comment until August 16.

On Wednesday, Comcast wrote a blog post saying it supports net neutrality, and they linked to their policy about an Open Internet for all.

“We wanted to reinforce today – to the public, our customers, regulators, and legislators — what we’ve been saying and doing for years. We support permanent, strong, legally enforceable net neutrality rules. We don’t and won’t block, throttle, or discriminate against lawful content.  We also believe in full transparency; you’ll know what our customer policies are,” wrote David L. Cohen, senior executive vice president and chief diversity officer in open Internet for Comcast.

“Our business practices ensure full protections for our customers and the public, and will continue to do so no matter which direction the FCC ultimately decides to go with its Open Internet regulations. The scare tactics being pursued by some groups that ISPs like Comcast will block or throttle lawful content are simply untrue,” Cohen added.

Insider Take:

As we stated in our net neutrality report last month, as a publisher, we support the First Amendment and strongly believe in freedom of speech and freedom of the press, rights that are supported by a free and open Internet. The repeal of net neutrality would have a devastating effect on consumers as well as e-commerce and online companies. If net neutrality is repealed, ISPs would have more control over the Internet than ever before, and there would be little, if any, governmental oversight to prevent them from prioritizing their own products and services over their competitors.

The public comment period is open for another month, so consumers and subscription companies have time to voice their concerns to the FCC. After that, we can only hope that the FCC will do what we believe to be the right thing – maintain a free and open Internet for all.