Internet activists are hunkered down today, meeting with major tech companies, startups, venture capitalists, and organizations representing communities of color in preparation for a coordinated response to counter the Federal Communications Commission's proposed new rules that could destroy net neutrality.

The proposed FCC regulations, first reported yesterday by the Wall Street Journal, would allow broadband providers to essentially act as gatekeepers and charge websites fees in order to reach customers through a data "fast lane." This is the antithesis of net neutrality, which states that all traffic is to be treated equally. In short, net neutrality is an assurance that internet providers can't favor one kind of traffic over another, or charge for access to certain parts of the internet. According to activists, yesterday's reports signal a hard end to that practice as well as the open internet (FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler attacked the reports in a blog post, saying that "the allegation that it will result in anti-competitive price increases for consumers is also unfounded").

The news has web activists are worried. And they're mobilizing.

"Net Neutrality is on life support," Free Press' Josh Levy wrote this afternoon in a joint Reddit AMA on the subject. As of this afternoon, it's the top post on Reddit's front page with over 5,000 upvotes, a signal that the news seems to have hit a nerve online and that frustration with the FCC is beginning to bleed into the mainstream.

"People like to say that the thing about net neutrality is 'it's complicated' but a lot of people actually get it," Levy told BuzzFeed. "The FCC responded to this in a way that's totally shitty and it's given people who didn't know where to direct their anger something to hook their emotions on. That's why we're seeing so much more outrage than back in January [when federal courts struck down the FCC's 2010 Open Internet rules] — it's more concrete. The challenge isn't so much to get more people aware right now; the bigger challenge is to harness the energy of people who are aware," he said.