CHEYENNE, Wyo.—iWantClips is joining the “Internet-Wide Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality” on July 12 as part of an effort by online firms to oppose the Federal Communication Commission’s plan to slash Title II, the legal framework for net neutrality rules that protect online free speech and innovation.
“Free speech is under fire and facing its toughest challenge to date with the current administration’s effort to stifle freedom of expression by slashing net neutrality rules,” said iWantClips Vice President Jay Phillips. “It’s imperative that all our customers, colleagues and friends mobilize and express their opposition to this blatant effort to squelch our First Amendment freedoms!”
On July 12, sites throughout the web will display a prominent alert on their homepage that will demonstrate what the web will look like without net neutrality. Using “spinning wheel of death,” “blocked,” and “upgrade” alert images will be used to encourage users to send letters to the FCC and Congress in support of Net Neutrality.
Net Neutrality is the basic principle of the Internet from its inception which prohibits Internet service providers from speeding up, slowing down or blocking any content, applications or websites that consumers want to access.
iWantClips will be showing its support to the protest through a blog post on iWantBlog, as well as through tweets about it, through its news/updates section in the iWantClips dashboard and by sending out a newsletter to all members, guests, models and studio owners to spread the world.
The “Internet-Wide Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality” is led by a variety of grassroots organizations who have organized the largest online protests in history including the Stop Online Piracy Act blackout of 2012 and the Internet Slowdown of 2014 in support of Net Neutrality. The day of action will focus on grassroots mobilization, with public interest groups mobilizing their members and major web platforms providing their visitors with tools to contact members of Congress and the FCC.
Among the companies participating in July 12 protest are Amazon, Kickstarter, Etsy, Reddit, Mozilla, Vimeo, Y Combinator, GitHub, PornHub, Private Internet Access, Pantheon, Bittorrent Inc., Shapeways, Nextdoor, Patreon, Dreamhost, and CREDO Mobile. Organizations participating include Fight for the Future, Free Press Action Fund, Demand Progress, Center for Media Justice, Internet Archive, World Wide Web Foundation, Creative Commons, National Hispanic Media Coalition, Greenpeace, Common Cause, ACLU, American Library Association, Daily Kos, OpenMedia, The Nation, PCCC, MoveOn, OFA, Public Knowledge, OTI, Color of Change, and many others.
