I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1096 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for open internet 

requirements for providers of broadband internet access service. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2019 

Mrs. RODGERS of Washington introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for 

open internet requirements for providers of broadband 

internet access service. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Promoting Internet 

5 Freedom and Innovation Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. OPEN INTERNET REQUIREMENTS. 

7 Title I of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

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

9 following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 14. OPEN INTERNET REQUIREMENTS. 

2 ‘‘(a) TRANSPARENCY.—Any person providing 

3 broadband internet access service shall publicly disclose 

4 accurate information regarding the network management 

5 practices, performance characteristics, and commercial 

6 terms of its broadband internet access services sufficient 

7 to enable consumers to make informed choices regarding 

8 the purchase and use of such services and entrepreneurs 

9 and other small businesses to develop, market, and main10 tain internet offerings. The disclosure shall be made via 

11 a publicly available, easily accessible website. 

12 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON BLOCKING, IMPAIRMENT AND

13 DEGRADATION, AND PAID PRIORITIZATION.—A person 

14 engaged in the provision of broadband internet access 

15 service, insofar as the person is so engaged, may not— 

16 ‘‘(1) block lawful content, applications, services, 

17 or nonharmful devices, subject to reasonable network 

18 management; 

19 ‘‘(2) impair or degrade lawful internet traffic 

20 on the basis of internet content, application, or serv21 ice, or use of a nonharmful device, subject to reason22 able network management; or 

23 ‘‘(3) engage in paid prioritization. 

24 ‘‘(c) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section— 

25 ‘‘(1) supersedes any obligation or authorization 

26 a provider of broadband internet access service may 


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1 have to address the needs of emergency communica2 tions or law enforcement, public safety, or national 

3 security authorities, consistent with or as permitted 

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

5 do so; or 

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

7 of broadband internet access service to address copy8 right infringement or other unlawful activity. 

9 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 ‘‘(1) BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS SERV11 ICE.— 

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

13 internet access service’ means a mass-market 

14 retail service by wire or radio that provides the 

15 capability to transmit data to and receive data 

16 from all or substantially all internet endpoints, 

17 including any capabilities that are incidental to 

18 and enable the operation of the communications 

19 service, but excluding dial-up internet access 

20 service. 

21 ‘‘(B) FUNCTIONAL EQUIVALENT; EVA22 SION.—The term includes any service that— 

23 ‘‘(i) the Commission finds to be pro24 viding a functional equivalent of the service 

25 described in subparagraph (A); or 


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

2 set forth in this section. 

3 ‘‘(2) EDGE PROVIDER.—The term ‘edge pro4 vider’ means any individual or entity that provides 

5 any content, application, or service over the internet, 

6 and any individual or entity that provides a device 

7 used for accessing any content, application, or serv8 ice over the internet. 

9 ‘‘(3) END USER.—The term ‘end user’ means 

10 any individual or entity that uses a broadband inter11 net access service. 

12 ‘‘(4) PAID PRIORITIZATION.—The term ‘paid 

13 prioritization’ means the management of a 

14 broadband provider’s network to directly or indi15 rectly favor some traffic over other traffic, including 

16 through the use of techniques such as traffic shap17 ing, prioritization, resource reservation, or other 

18 forms of preferential traffic management, either— 

19 ‘‘(A) in exchange for consideration, mone20 tary or otherwise, from a third party; or 

21 ‘‘(B) to benefit an affiliated entity. 

22 ‘‘(5) REASONABLE NETWORK MANAGEMENT.— 

23 The term ‘reasonable network management’ means a 

24 practice that has a primarily technical network man25 agement justification, but does not include other 


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1 business practices. A network management practice 

2 is reasonable if it is primarily used for and tailored 

3 to achieving a legitimate network management pur4 pose, taking into account the particular network ar5 chitecture and technology of the broadband internet 

6 access service.’’. 

Æ 


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