The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wants cable giant Comcast to do some explaining about complaints that it selectively blocked Internet traffic across its network.

Comcast spokeswoman Sena Fitzmaurice told InternetNews.com that a letter from the FCC's Enforcement Bureau -- and therefore not a public document -- called on Comcast to respond to a complaint filed by Free Press, a Washington, D.C.-based public interest group.

The FCC also issued a public request for comment on a petition that Free Press and several other groups filed in November over the throttling beefs. That petition, and a similar one by video file-sharing site Vuze, urged the FCC to take a firm stand against broadband providers impeding high-bandwidth traffic on their networks.

The groups claimed that actions such as Comcast's alleged blocking of downloads from peer-to-peer site BitTorrent violated the FCC's Internet Policy Statement, a set of principles the agency issued in 2005 codifying its stance on the issue of Net neutrality. The principles set forth a policy "that broadband networks are widely deployed, open, affordable and accessible to all consumers."

"We're certainly pleased to see the FCC responding to our complaint," Craig Aaron, director of communications at Free Press, told InternetNews.com. "Certainly how they (Comcast) respond will dictate what the FCC's action is. It's a test of whether the FCC is really going to respond to these egregious violations of Net neutrality."

Concrete evidence that Comcast was impeding downloads from BitTorrent surfaced in October.

As explained on internet.com, BitTorrent (define) is not your average peer-to-peer file-sharing technique. It places what you download on upload for other users; when multiple people are downloading the same file at the same time they upload pieces of the file to each other. BitTorrent pieces together the file you are downloading, to where the first part of a file you get may be the last part someone else gets.

Comcast has since admitted to "delaying" certain traffic, but not blocking it altogether.

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"We believe our practices are in accordance with the FCC's policy statement on the Internet where the Commission clearly recognized that reasonable network management is necessary for the good of all customers," Comcast Executive Vice President David L. Cohen said in an e-mail to InternetNews.com.

"Comcast does not, has not and will not block any Websites or online applications, including peer-to-peer services."

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin had signaled his readiness to move on the issue of selective broadband management last week at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The deadline for Comcast to respond to the FCC request is Jan. 25.

The FCC directive did not signal the opening of a full-scale government inquiry of Comcast's broadband management practices, as was widely reported, Comcast's Fitzmaurice told InternetNews.com. She also disputed media reports that said Comcast had been the exclusive recipient of two FCC notices of inquiry; in fact, she added, only one had been directed solely to Comcast.