FCC chief says Comcast violated Internet rules

[Martrae]

Jul 10, 10:26 PM (ET)

By JOHN DUNBAR

WASHINGTON (AP) - The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission will recommend that the nation's largest cable company be punished for violating agency principles that guarantee customers open access to the Internet.

The potentially precedent-setting move stems from a complaint against Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) that the company had blocked Internet traffic among users of a certain type of software that allowed them to exchange large amounts of data.

Martin told The Associated Press late Thursday that "the commission has adopted a set of principles that protects consumers' access to the Internet." He said the commission "found that Comcast's actions in this instance violated our principles."

Martin said Comcast has "arbitrarily" blocked Internet access to customers and failed to disclose that it was doing so.

[Harrison]

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