Five FCC commissioners are expected to announce later this week the decision against Comcast’s interference with P2P traffic at low congestion traffic levels. According to sources familiar with the matter, three of the five commissioners have already casted their votes against Comcast’s Internet practices, including FCC Chairman Kevin Martin.

The cable operator is accused of violating federal laws by blocking Internet traffic, thus violating users’ right to free Internet access. As Chairman Kevin Martin recently pointed out, Comcast violated a set of principles that protects users’ access to Internet.

Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein have reportedly joined Martin’s decision, forming a majority of three. The case against Comcast ifs just a small step toward regulating once and for all the extent of cable operators’ Internet management practices.

Comcast defended its practices earlier this year, saying they did not block Internet traffic, and that they only slowed down traffic at high congestion levels in order to protect other users’ experience.

However, the Federal Communications Commission’s report on Comcast’s P2P interference revealed that the company had used an equipment that blocked a large portion of subscribers regardless of network congestion levels.

Furthermore, the equipment used didn’t have the ability to determine when an individual segment is congested and blocked users' access in a large area of the network.

It seems that Comcast never agreed with the term “blocking,” as the cable operator considers its practices not only reasonable network management, but also consistent with industry practices all over the world (however, if others do it, that still doesn’t make it OK!).

Comcast continues to claim that the terms established by FCC as "reasonable network management" remain unclear, and that they cannot base their accusations of Internet blockage on that. The cable operator is expected to challenge the decision in court, if it will indeed prove to be a negative one.