The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is likely to vote today to uphold a network complaint against Comcast Corp, the largest U.S. cable television operator, which was accused of violating open-Internet principles by blocking peer-to-peer traffic on its network.

The FCC chairman Kevin Martin and two Democrat commissioners have already voted in favor of a reprimand, according to a source. That makes it three out of five votes and even following last-minute protests from the Bush administration officials and the top House Republican as this Wall Street Journal story says it’s likely to go through.

Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts spoke up in defense of his company’s network management practices at its quarterly annual meeting on Wednesday.

We disagree with the FCC’s apparent finding by three commissioners. We believe our network management choices were reasonable, consistent with industry practices and we have never blocked any websites or any applications as some of the articles have suggested. 

FCC’s decision today could finally kick start the long-simmering ‘net neutrality’ debate. Comcast and other ISPs are not likely to walk away with their tails between their legs.

Keep an eye on:

• Go for the fireworks, not the action at Yahoo’s annual meeting. (Reuters)
• Ex AOL Chief Jon Miller: martial artist, venture capitalist. (LATimes)
• China lifts web curbs. (Reuters)

(Photo: Reuters)