In an effort to hinder the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to sanction Comcast (News - Alert) Corporation for blocking certain Internet traffic, the cable giant has filed suit against the agency, reports the Wall Street Journal.

 

In early August, the lawsuit was handed down by the FCC (News - Alert) in a 3-2 decision finding Comcast's practices violated net neutrality rules. The FCC ordered the company to provide more details of its network management policies within 30 days. Comcast was also ordered by the FCC to stop blocking traffic related to specific applications, such as file sharing software that allows users to swap videos, by the end of the year.

 

The Comcast incident was the first time the FCC had found a company in violation of its so-called "net neutrality" principles, which lay out consumers' Internet rights and the notion that all legal Internet traffic should be treated equally.

 

After the FCC announced its decision, a legal challenge by Comcast was widely expected, even though the company was not fined. In defense, Comcast claimed that sometimes slowing Internet traffic on file-sharing networks like BitTorrent (News - Alert) is reasonable and necessary to keep Internet hogs from slowing other customers' service.

 

Although the filing doesn't go into details about its complaint, company officials have in the past asserted that the FCC has authority to bring enforcement actions under rules, not principles. Concern about that issue has driven unsuccessful efforts by Congressional Democrats to pass net neutrality legislation that would give the FCC specific authority to monitor Internet providers.

 

Comcast said Thursday that despite the lawsuit, it will fully comply with the FCC's order, including providing more information about its network management practices to the agency and modifying those practices by the end of the year.

 

"We filed this appeal in order to protect our legal rights and to challenge the basis on which the [FCC] found that Comcast violated federal policy in the absence of pre-existing legally enforceable standards or rules," Comcast Executive Vice President, David Cohen said in a written statement.

 

Despite the fact that Comcast acknowledges the FCC's jurisdiction over Internet service providers, Comcast believes in this case the FCC's action "was legally inappropriate and its findings were not justified by the record."

 

The Comcast filed its lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals, but there's no guarantee that the case will be heard in the business-friendly court. Public interest groups filed lawsuits about the FCC's Comcast decision last Friday, in three appeals courts across the country so a lottery would be held to figure out which court will listen to the case.