When the ruling for Verizon vs. FCC (2014) was handed down, cable companies rejoiced at what was an important step towards dismantling Net neutrality. But roughly one year and one month later, internet activists everywhere were cheering what was an historic ruling by the FCC that made Net neutrality the law of the land. Even though Republicans in Congress were actively trying to get rid of the rules as soon as the FCC decision came out on February 27, 2015, for now, Net neutrality is here to stay.

So what is Net neutrality and why is it so important?

Described by the New York Times media columnist David Carr as “a topic that generally begets narcolepsy”, net neutrality is the principle that all data on the internet must be treated equally regardless of origin, type, platform, application, user, or content. If that sounds like a common sense approach to how the internet should be, then you’re in the majority. The only opposition to Net neutrality comes from cable companies and internet service providers and Republicans in Congress and in the FCC.

So why has it taken so long for Net neutrality to become the law?

It is because cable companies like Time Warner Cable, Verizon, and Comcast have vehemently opposed it and sued constantly to prevent it. They want to get rid of Net neutrality so a two-tiered system of Internet can be created and they can make even more money by breaking the Internet we all love. Cable companies like Comcast, who have one of the most sophisticated lobbying machines in Washington, were nearly successful in achieving what they wanted until a group of unlikely heroes came together to save the day.

One year ago around April 2014, the FCC was on the verge of passing rules that would have effectively created a two-tiered system that would have essentially gotten rid of Net neutrality. This is when organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Free Press came together to organize and protest against the upcoming ruling. Netflix at that point became the face of Net neutrality and joined them in their fight. Soon other big companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, and Amazon followed suit by publishing a letter that called the proposed ruling a “grave threat to the internet.”

And then it was time for smaller youth oriented companies to take over the fight. Companies like Reddit, Tumblr, Mozilla, and Etsy, along with activist organizations like the ACLU, EFF, and Free Press, opened coalitions including Battle for the Net and Save the Internet.

But the person who had the most impact on this debate was none other than comedian John Oliver. In his HBO show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, he covered Net neutrality as a topic and asked the Internet users who he called “monsters” to intervene by commenting on the FCC’s proposed ruling. His call to arms had an unexpected impact. By the next day the FCC’s website crashed due to overwhelming traffic. Since then, the video has been viewed over 8 million times.

A total of 4 million comments were submitted to the FCC regarding Net neutrality, with overwhelming support for the principle. Even the overwhelming public support for Net neutrality wasn’t enough though. Cable companies were too powerful to be defeated. This is when President Obama intervened, asking the FCC to enact strict rules to protect the principle, which worked wonders. The FCC, with the backing of the President, activists, tech companies, and the informed public, enacted strongest possible rules on February 26 to enshrine Net neutrality as the law of the land.

We can expect a lot of effort in the future on the part of cable companies and Republicans in Congress to dismantle Net neutrality. But for now, it is here to say. And it became possible because of an unlikely coalition of heroes who took on the mighty cable companies and defeated them. Internet activism and democracy will never be the same. For now go enjoy John Oliver’s take on Net neutrality and find out more details about this issue here.

This post was written by a student enrolled in the Capstone Seminar course in the undergraduate program in public policy at Hunter College. Any opinions expressed here are solely those of the student.