The long dispute between Comcast and the Federal Communications Commission is far from being over, as the cable service provider decided to appeal the August 1 decision in the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, if we take into consideration Comcast’s statement after the decision. Sena Fitzmaurice said at the time that they will be considering all their legal options regarding the Commission’s Order, which raised “significant due process concerns” and “a variety of substantive legal questions.”

Comcast said in a statement following the appeal that the purpose of this process is to protect their legal rights and challenge the arguments that the Commission found to be discriminatory and in violation with the federal policy.

“We continue to recognize that the Commission has jurisdiction over Internet service providers and may regulate them in appropriate circumstances and in accordance with appropriate procedures,” Comcast said. “However, we are compelled to appeal because we strongly believe that, in this particular case, the Commission’s action was legally inappropriate and its findings were not justified by the record.”

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said he was disappointed with the decision, especially since the commission had done a thorough investigation on the complaint, all to protect the interests of the consumers.

The Federal Communications Commission concluded after the investigation that Comcast used discriminatory practices among applications and peer-to-peer interference driven by anticompetitive motives, all in violation of federal policies.

Furthermore, Chairman Kevin Martin said at the time that consumers “demand, and deserve, better,” and that the decision “will send a message to the industry that bad actors will be punished.”

The Commission gave Comcast 30 days to disclose details on its discriminatory network management practices, to submit a compliance plan describing how it intends to stop these discriminatory management practices by the end of the year, and disclose to customers and the Commission the network management practices that will replace current practices.

The Federal Communications Commission warned Comcast that if it fails to comply with the demands in the Order, the interim injunctive relief will automatically take effect, requiring Comcast to suspend its discriminatory network management practices, and the matter will be set for hearing.

Comcast responded by saying their practices were consistent with industry practices, and that they did not block access to Web sites or online applications, including peer-to-peer services. Furthermore, Fitzmaurice said Comcast was gratified that the Commission did not find any conduct that would justify a fine, and that the deadline imposed by the Commission was consistent with the self-imposed deadline that Comcast announced months before.

The controversy started last year, when some Associated Press tests revealed that Comcast was actively interfering with peer-to-peer networks. Comcast defended their practices, arguing that some broadband users utilize immense amounts of bandwidth which overwhelm the network capacity and threaten to harm the online experience of other users.

Earlier this week, Comcast said it would impose a 250GB limit for monthly traffic for all residential customers. The idea came as other Internet service providers began testing different ways of limiting bandwidth usage for heavy-users, which usually leads to traffic congestions.