The head of the Federal Communications Commission has accused Comcast of breaking the rules of internet traffic management by throttling or blocking peer-to-peer traffic.

"The FCC has adopted a set of principles that protects consumer access to the internet," FCC chairman Kevin Martin told Associated Press on 10 July. "We found that Comcast's actions in this instance violated our principles."

Martin stated that Comcast's blocking was "arbitrary" and did not relate to the amount of data that P2P was taking up on the network.

The FCC chairman recommended sanctions against Comcast to be decided at a meeting on 1 August.

Marvin Ammori, general counsel at Free Press, and author of the original complaint against Comcast, issued a statement on the decision in which he accused Comcast of "blocking free choice on the internet".

"At every turn, Comcast has denied blocking, lied to the public and tried to avoid being held accountable. We have presented an open and shut case that Comcast broke the law," he said.

"The FCC now appears ready to take action on behalf of consumers. This is an historic test for whether the law will protect the open internet.

"If the FCC decisively rules against Comcast, it will be a remarkable victory for organised people over organised money."

However, it seems unlikely that Comcast will face much more than a slap on the wrist for its actions, which it says were merely prudent network management.

A spokesperson said that the company was simply managing its network to ensure that all customers got a good quality connection.