A curious thing happened on Wednesday, a day that many internet companies and public policy groups had christened a “Day of Action” aimed at protesting the Federal Communications Commission’s plan to overturn so-called net neutrality rules. The curiosity was that several broadband companies — the very same companies that pushed to rewrite the rules that undergird net neutrality — put out statements suggesting that they, too, supported the aims of the protesters.

“We support permanent, strong, legally enforceable net neutrality rules,” said Comcast, the nation’s largest cable company, which once successfully sued the F.C.C. to overturn net neutrality policies. Verizon, the nation’s largest wireless company, said: “Like those participating in the Day of Action, Verizon supports the open internet.” And AT&T said that it was “joining with hundreds of other internet companies on July 12th to show our support for an open internet.” The company even created a form for people to send an automated message to the F.C.C. The text of the letter actually supports the new F.C.C. policy, but hey, it’s the thought that counts, I suppose.

So what’s going on here? Net neutrality — rules meant to ensure that broadband companies treat all internet traffic equally and don’t, for instance, block certain services or charge them to get priority access — has been at the center of a heated tech-policy battle for more than a decade. It’s a fight between internet companies — the Googles, Facebooks and Netflixes of the world — and broadband companies that control the pipes coming into your home. The battle is abstruse, but the stakes are high: Both sides say the future of the internet depends on getting these rules right.

So why, now, are broadband companies suggesting that they support the aims of the other side?

There are two possibilities: A cynic might argue that it’s just puffery, that the broadband industry is simply trying to present a friendly image to an outraged online horde. Or you might take them at their word.