Comcast is getting one step closer to losing the P2P dispute, as three of the five members of the Federal Communications Commission have reportedly expressed their favorable votes for punishing the cable company for blocking Internet traffic.

As it has been reported earlier this month by the Associated Press, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said he would recommend Comcast to be punished for violating users' rights to open access to Internet, after a FCC investigation revealed unfair Internet practices.

“The commission had adopted a set of principles that protects consumers access to the Internet,” FCC Chairman Kevin Martin told AP. “We found that Comcast’s actions in this instance violated our principles.”

It appears that commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein have also approved the sanction, which gives the Commission a majority of votes. However, the two other commissioner still haven't expressed their position. A final decision will be announced after the meeting scheduled to take place August 1st.

“It is always hard to respond to rumors, however, we continue to assert that our network management practices were reasonable, wholly consistent with industry practices and that we did not block access to Web sites or online applications, including P2P services,” a Comcast spokesperson said in an e-mail statement on Friday.

While Comcast is accused of blocking users regardless of traffic congestion levels, thus affecting the experience of a large number of Internet subscribers, the cable operator says its “carefully limited measures” used in traffic management are “reasonable” and don't qualify as Internet blocking.

Furthermore, Comcast claims the terms established by FCC as “reasonable network management” are vague, and that the investigation report of the Federal Communications Commission doesn't support the Internet blockage accusations.

The 2008 “Internet Freedom Preservation Act,” stands against “unreasonable discriminatory favoritism for, or degradation of, content by network operators based upon its source, ownership, or destination on the Internet.”