An appeals court threw out on Tuesday the Federal Communications Commission's order requiring cable and high-speed Internet provider Comcast Corp to change how it manages its broadband network.

The FCC voted in 2008 to uphold a complaint against Comcast and required the company to cease blocking peer-to-peer applications, which are commonly used to distribute large files like TV shows and movies.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said that the FCC had failed to show that it had the authority to impose such restrictions, which were put in place after customers had complained that Comcast was interfering with peer-to-peer applications, which permit users to share files.

(Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

Broadband Comcast