The FCC has received three million comments on on proposed rule changes for the open internet so far according to the Washington Post.

Advocates of net neutrality say the plan by FCC Commissioner Tom Wheeler, a former cable industry lobbyist, would create is a two-tiered internet with premium fast lanes for those able to pay for faster content delivery.

Around 50 people gathered outside of New York's City Hall to show their support for net neutrality.

Advocates and activists are also opposed to the proposed merger of Comcast and Time Warner. The two largest cable providers in the US are seeking regulatory permission to consolidate their multi-billion dollar operations.

The deal needs the approval of the FCC and the Justice Department.

A simultaneous rally took place outside of Comcast headquarters in Philadelphia.

"When you go online you can go where you want, do what you want, download whatever you want, you don't need permission from a phone company to make your website work. You lose net neutrality that all goes away, and suddenly you're in a tiered system with fast lanes for the few and slow lanes for everybody else, that is not a world I want to live in," said Craig Aaron, Free Press to Latin Post. "The internet has been such an unrivaled source for free speech, for democratic participation to economic innovation, you lose net neutrality, you lose everything that has made the internet so great."

In June the huge volume of e-mails and public comments over the proposed rule change crashed the FCC's aging computer system several days after HBO comedian John Oliver delivered a rant on the open-Internet proposals and told his audience to write to the FCC.

Monday's rally drew a diverse audience reflective of how the internet pervades the lives of so many for their livelihood, networking, education and global connections.

"I use the internet a lot. I have several different businesses and they require internet access. It has enabled me to have a livelihood and I feel very strongly that would disappear for small businesses. I also feel this is a national treasure," said Sue Tartleton, founder and owner of Celebrate You to Latin Post.

"I think the internet is our national treasure but it also spreads across the world and I have a very strong feeling if we just communicated more with other people we would break down a lot of barriers that are up, and if we take that away we go back to having our own little communities with our separate lives with our own little belief systems, and I believe it's time we opened up to the world," said Tarleton.

Jennifer Pozner is the Executive Director of Women in Media & News and author of Reality Bites Back, - the troubling truth about guilty-pleasure TV. She said the loss of net neutrality would mean a lack of access to readers, and a lack of access to information that she relies upon to inform herself as a citizen of the U.S.

"I am citizen of this country and I need a free and open internet so I can get uncensored equal access to the information I need to make adequate, accurate decisions on public policy, on legislation on cultural issues.  Without free and open internet, without the protections that net neutrality affords us I am going to have to rely on what CNN, The New York Times for all of the information I need to make decisions about foreign policy issues, to make decision about economic issues, to make about medical and health issues. Well that's great if you don't care about women's health, it's great if you don't care about peace issues, and it's great if you don't care about the feminization of poverty," Pozner told Latin Post.