“One of the Internet’s greatest strengths–its unprecedented power to foster technological, economic, and social innovation–stems in significant part from the absence of any central controlling authority, either public or private. The FCC’s role, therefore should not involve regulating the Internet itself.” – FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, May 6, 2010

This week’s announcement from FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski about applying narrow regulation to the Internet was no doubt a pivotal point in the net neutrality debate.

Since embarking on this journey in 2007, BitTorrent Inc. kind of inadvertently became the poster child for net neutrality – as we landed at the center of the discussion. We recognize that this debate represents many interests and means something different to a lot of people, but our stance has always been about championing a neutral Internet that is protocol agnostic. We believe that an open environment is critical in fostering continued innovation, so that we can realize the unlimited potential of the Internet.

Moreover, the debate is about balancing the interests of consumers with ISPs that have a desire to manage their networks. The FCC’s third-way works to balance those interests, which is critical in the absence of a strong market or policy. With that said, we continue to be optimistic that with transparency we will have a more informed public that will create an environment of self-regulation that encourages all parties to act for the greater good.

-Eric-