On Friday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to support the complaint filed against Comcast, which is currently the largest cable company in the US. The Commission’s decision, although it doesn’t require the company to pay any fine, it does force Comcast to stop blocking P2P traffic over its network.

Kevin J. Martin, chairman of the commission, said Comcast’s case must serve as an example for all Internet providers and communication companies, to be sure to let their customers use their networks anyway they feel like. Kevin Martin added that the Internet’s open character is to be preserved; the decision reached by Friday’s 3-to-2 vote comes to enforce the idea that network operators can’t simply block their customers’ access to any type of content and applications.

Earlier this year, after having received accusations of traffic interference, Comcast talked about its intention to restructure its Internet traffic management, thus putting into action a plan to handle all data equally and objectively. After the company’s announcement, Kevin J. Martin seemed rather skeptical when referring to Comcast’s ability to change its practices.

The FCC first became aware of Comcast’s way of handling traffic in November, when it received a complaint against the company in which the latter was accused of blocking peer-to-peer Internet traffic. At first, Comcast claimed it wasn’t breaking any of the principles of net neutrality. However, as previously mentioned, the company eventually admitted that it had indeed slown down certain peer-to-peer transfers.

What will follow remains to be seen.