In what may be an early analysis of enforcing open-access rules for the Net, the head of the Federal Communications Commission said Thursday that he will seek to have Comcast punished for violating openness guarantees.

According to the Associated Press, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said his agency “has adopted a set of principles that protects customers’ access to the Net,” and Comcast violated those principles. The FCC policy to which Martin refers is a 2005 set of principles.

‘Arbitrarily’ Blocked

The violation involved Comcast’s blocking of Web traffic amoung users exchanging large downloads via a file-sharing application. Martin told AP that Comcast “arbitrarily” blocked access without regard to how much bandwidth was actually being used, and did not tell those customers about the actions.

The FCC chairman was to outline his recommendation for enforcement action to other FCC commissioners Friday, and a vote will be held on August 1. The […]

Orginal post by Top Tech News