In what may be an early test of enforcing open-access rules for the Internet, the head of the Federal Communications Commission said Thursday that he will seek to have 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 Internet," 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 Internet traffic between 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 action would make Comcast cease blocking while informing the FCC about what it has done, and telling consumers what its policies will be.

A spokesperson for Comcast denied it blocks content or services, and said its actions were part of "carefully limited measures" that it takes to make sure all its customers receive quality service.

The FCC's action followed a complaint by Free Press, a nonprofit group that supports network neutrality. Neutrality is the concept that all Internet traffic should be treated equally. Some Internet service providers have advocated the ability to adjust charges for either different levels of service or different kinds or levels of content.

Comcast Was 'A Bit Bold'

Larry Hettick, an analyst with industry research firm Current Analysis, noted that less than 10 percent of Internet consumers use 40 percent or more of Net bandwidth. He noted that this asymmetry raises several questions, such as whether it's fair to the other 90 percent. A user's connection speed might slow, for instance, because of a neighbor's downloading high-definition movies, yet both pay the same.

This problem is only going to get worse, Hettick said, as huge downloads such as high-definition movies become commonplace. He described Comcast's actions as "a bit bold" in that it apparently didn't make the policy or actions evident, but he noted that cutting off bandwidth abusers is commonplace among satellite providers of Internet service.

Hettick said a solution should involve making the terms of a service more obvious, although he noted that Comcast's is a "best effort" service. The ultimate solution, he said, is to set up service model classes for consumers, where a user can pay more for higher capacity.