I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1101 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to ensure internet openness, 

to prohibit blocking lawful content and non-harmful devices, to prohibit 

throttling data, to prohibit paid prioritization, to require transparency 

of network management practices, to provide that broadband shall be 

considered to be an information service, and to prohibit the Commission 

or a State commission from relying on section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 as a grant of authority. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2019 

Mr. WALDEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to ensure internet openness, to prohibit blocking lawful content and 

non-harmful devices, to prohibit throttling data, to prohibit paid prioritization, to require transparency of network management practices, to provide that broadband 

shall be considered to be an information service, and 

to prohibit the Commission or a State commission from 

relying on section 706 of the Telecommunications Act 

of 1996 as a grant of authority. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 1101 IH

1 SECTION 1. INTERNET OPENNESS. 

2 Title I of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

3 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 14. INTERNET OPENNESS. 

6 ‘‘(a) OBLIGATIONS OF BROADBAND INTERNET AC7 CESS SERVICE PROVIDERS.—A person engaged in the pro8 vision of broadband internet access service, insofar as such 

9 person is so engaged— 

10 ‘‘(1) may not block lawful content, applications, 

11 or services, subject to reasonable network manage12 ment; 

13 ‘‘(2) may not prohibit the use of non-harmful 

14 devices, subject to reasonable network management; 

15 ‘‘(3) may not throttle lawful traffic by selec16 tively slowing, speeding, degrading, or enhancing 

17 internet traffic based on source, destination, or con18 tent, subject to reasonable network management; 

19 ‘‘(4) may not engage in paid prioritization; and 

20 ‘‘(5) shall publicly disclose accurate and rel21 evant information in plain language regarding the 

22 network management practices, performance, and 

23 commercial terms of its broadband internet access 

24 services sufficient for consumers to make informed 

25 choices regarding use of such services and for con26 tent, application, service, and device providers to deVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:23 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1101.IH H1101

pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 1101 IH

1 velop, market, and maintain internet offerings, ex2 cept that a provider is not required to publicly dis3 close competitively sensitive information or informa4 tion that could compromise network security or un5 dermine the efficacy of reasonable network manage6 ment practices. 

7 ‘‘(b) COMMISSION AUTHORITY.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall en9 force the obligations established in subsection (a) 

10 through adjudication of complaints alleging viola11 tions of such subsection but may not expand the 

12 internet openness obligations for provision of 

13 broadband internet access service beyond the obliga14 tions established in such subsection, whether by 

15 rulemaking or otherwise. 

16 ‘‘(2) FORMAL COMPLAINT PROCEDURES.—Not 

17 later than 60 days after the date of the enactment 

18 of this section, the Commission shall adopt formal 

19 complaint procedures to address alleged violations of 

20 subsection (a). 

21 ‘‘(c) OTHER LAWS AND CONSIDERATIONS.—Nothing 

22 in this section— 

23 ‘‘(1) supersedes any obligation or authorization 

24 a provider of broadband internet access service may 

25 have to address the needs of emergency communicaVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:23 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1101.IH H1101

pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 1101 IH

1 tions or law enforcement, public safety, or national 

2 security authorities, consistent with or as permitted 

3 by applicable law, or limits the provider’s ability to 

4 do so; or 

5 ‘‘(2) prohibits reasonable efforts by a provider 

6 of broadband internet access service to address copy7 right infringement or other unlawful activity. 

8 ‘‘(d) CONSUMER CHOICE.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this section 

10 shall be construed to limit consumers’ choice of serv11 ice plans or consumers’ control over their chosen 

12 broadband internet access service or, except as pro13 vided in paragraph (2), the ability of broadband 

14 internet access service providers to offer specialized 

15 services. 

16 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN PRACTICES RE17 GARDING SPECIALIZED SERVICES.—Specialized serv18 ices may not be offered or provided in ways that 

19 threaten the meaningful availability of broadband 

20 internet access service or that have been devised or 

21 promoted in a manner designed to evade the pur22 poses of this section. 

23 ‘‘(e) BROADBAND TO BE CONSIDERED INFORMATION

24 SERVICE.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

25 the provision of broadband internet access service or any 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 1101 IH

1 other mass-market retail service providing advanced tele2 communications capability (as defined in section 706 of 

3 the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302)) 

4 shall be considered to be an information service. 

5 ‘‘(f) REASONABLE NETWORK MANAGEMENT.—For 

6 purposes of subsection (a), a network management prac7 tice is reasonable if it is appropriate and tailored to achiev8 ing a legitimate network management purpose, taking into 

9 account the particular network architecture and any tech10 nology and operational limitations of the broadband inter11 net access service provider. 

12 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 ‘‘(1) BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS SERV14 ICE.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘broadband 

16 internet access service’ means a mass-market 

17 retail service by wire or radio that provides the 

18 capability to transmit data to and receive data 

19 from all or substantially all internet endpoints, 

20 including any capabilities that are incidental to 

21 and enable the operation of the communications 

22 service, but excluding dial-up internet access 

23 service. 

24 ‘‘(B) FUNCTIONAL EQUIVALENT; EVA25 SION.—The term includes any service that— 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 1101 IH

1 ‘‘(i) the Commission finds to be pro2 viding a functional equivalent of the service 

3 described in subparagraph (A); or 

4 ‘‘(ii) is used to evade the protections 

5 set forth in subsection (a). 

6 ‘‘(2) PAID PRIORITIZATION.—The term ‘paid 

7 prioritization’ means the speeding up or slowing 

8 down of some internet traffic in relation to other 

9 internet traffic over the consumer’s broadband inter10 net access service by prioritizing or deprioritizing 

11 packets based on compensation or lack thereof by 

12 the sender to the broadband internet access service 

13 provider. 

14 ‘‘(3) SPECIALIZED SERVICES.—The term ‘spe15 cialized services’ means services other than 

16 broadband internet access service that are offered 

17 over the same network as, and that may share net18 work capacity with, broadband internet access serv19 ice.’’. 

20 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY UNDER SECTION 706 OF THE TELE21 COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1996. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 706 of the Telecommuni23 cations Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302) is amended— 

24 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub25 section (e); and 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 1101 IH

1 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(d) NO GRANT OF AUTHORITY.—The Commission 

4 or a State commission with regulatory jurisdiction over 

5 telecommunications services may not rely on this section 

6 as a grant of authority.’’. 

7 (b) TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.—Section 706 of the 

8 Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302) is fur9 ther amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘(as defined’’ 

11 and all that follows through ‘‘note))’’; and 

12 (2) in subsection (e), as redesignated, in the 

13 matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘sub14 section’’ and inserting ‘‘section’’. 

Æ 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS