The petitions are considered the first real test of the “Net Neutrality” concept which considers all data equal on the Internet. Net Neutrality first emerged two years ago in response to some companies wanting a faster lane on the information superhighway; an express route for commercial operations forcing other applications, such as e-mail, to settle for a slower route between sender and receiver.

But such a multi-tier method of data transmission never got past the concept stage. Instead, Net activists and consumer groups campaigned for Net Neutrality, a policy where all data travels the same channels, and a song downloaded from iTunes travels the same digital pathways as an e-mail from grandma.

Although Net Neutrality is not an actual law, it is FCC policy.

The reason folks are raising a ruckus with Comcast is because the cable operator / Internet service provider has been interfering with BitTorrent file-sharing.

Or so says the Associated Press, which tested Comcast’s Internet service last month and found that the company was indeed hindering some BitTorrent file-sharing operations. Since then, AP has detected similar interference with other, non BitTorrent, P2P operations.

AP’s testing indicated that Comcast interferes when a BitTorrent session involves only two computers – the one hosting the file, otherwise known as the uploader, and the computer receiving the file, the downloader. Usually a BitTorrent downloader receives portions of a file from several computers. However, sometimes a downloader connects with only one computer hosting the file. That’s when Comcast starts mucking about.

According to AP, when one computer is sending a file to one downloader via BitTorrent, Comcast sends messages to both computers effectively telling each machine that the other no longer wants to participate in the file transfer. Furthermore, both computers see the message as coming from the other computer. AP has likened this to a phone company cutting in on a conversation and telling each participant, in the voice of the other participant, “I don’t want to talk to you. Goodbye.”

Comcast says it doesn’t block downloading. However, the company also says it “delays” some traffic between file-sharers. AP discovered that the company generally blocks requests from users trying to download files, but eventually allows the request to go through.

In one AP test, 10 minutes went by before a P2P request made it through Comcast’s network.

Comcast’s hindering P2P file-sharing isn’t about copyright infringements. Instead, the company claims the interference is necessary to keep data moving at a reasonable rate, and that even a small number of P2P users can slow the network down.

However, there are concerns that other ISPs might follow in Comcast’s digital footprints, thus putting a serious crimp in P2P operations. And because many entertainment companies are beginning to see P2P as a legitimate method to send content to customers, Comcast’s actions could seriously affect those companies relying on P2P for content distribution.

So far, two petitions have been filed.

One petition asks that the FCC immediately declare that Comcast is violating the Commission’s Net Neutrality policy. Co-signers on the petition include Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Media Access Project, Public Knowledge and professors at Yale, Harvard and Stanford law schools.

Two groups, the aforementioned Public Knowledge, and Free Press have filed a separate complaint asking that the FCC demand a “forfeiture” from Comcast of $195,000 per affected subscriber. The two groups are asking double the $97,500 figure already specified for a single, continuing violation, claiming deception on Comcast’s part. Citing security reasons, Comcast kept its methods of interference secret until AP publicized its test results.

No one knows how the FCC will react to the two filings. However, the Commission did issue a statement.

“The FCC should be aggressively reviewing these cases because they go to ensuring the freedom and openness of the Internet which is so vital to our communications future and to our civic dialogue,” FCC Commissioner Michael Copps said in the statement.