I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 279 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to limit the authority of the 

Federal Communications Commission over providers of broadband Internet access service. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 12, 2015 

Mr. LATTA (for himself, Mr. JONES, Mr. WEBER of Texas, and Mr. RANGEL) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to limit the 

authority of the Federal Communications Commission 

over 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. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) The Internet is a powerful engine for eco6 nomic growth that has remained open, free, and ac7 cessible without government regulation since its en8 trance into the public sphere. 


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1 (2) Title II of the Communications Act of 1934 

2 was designed for the monopoly telephone system in 

3 1934 and has its origins in 19th century shipping 

4 regulations. 

5 (3) Imposing the obligations and requirements 

6 of title II of such Act on broadband Internet access 

7 service would severely harm broadband investment 

8 and create myriad negative unintended con9 sequences. 

10 (4) The Federal Communications Commission 

11 has consistently taken actions that classify 

12 broadband Internet access service, even in different 

13 forms, as an information service. Such actions in14 clude the following: 

15 (A) In 1998, Chairman Bill Kennard 

16 issued a Report to Congress finding that Inter17 net access is an information service with a tele18 communications component. 

19 (B) In 2002, the Commission issued a De20 claratory Ruling (17 FCC Rcd 4798) 

21 classifying cable modem broadband Internet ac22 cess service as an information service. In the 

23 2005 case of National Cable & Telecommuni24 cations Association v. Brand X Internet Serv25 ices (545 U.S. 967), the Supreme Court of the 


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1 United States affirmed this determination that 

2 such service is not a common carrier service 

3 and is appropriately classified as an information 

4 service. 

5 (C) In 2005, the Commission issued a Re6 port and Order (20 FCC Rcd 14853) affirming 

7 the classification of wireline broadband Internet 

8 access service as an information service. 

9 (D) In 2007, the Commission issued a De10 claratory Ruling (22 FCC Rcd 5901) affirming 

11 the classification of wireless broadband Internet 

12 access service as an information service. 

13 (5) These Commission rulings unleashed tens of 

14 billions of dollars of investment in the Nation’s 

15 broadband networks, investment that would not have 

16 been made if broadband services were subject to 

17 common carrier requirements. 

18 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY OF FCC. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the Communications 

20 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153) is amended as follows: 

21 (1) COMMON CARRIER.—Paragraph (11) is 

22 amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Such 

23 term does not include a provider of an information 

24 service or of advanced telecommunications capability 

25 (as defined in section 706 of the TelecommuniVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:41 Jan 20, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H279.IH H279

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1 cations Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302)) when en2 gaged in the provision of such service or capability.’’. 

3 (2) INFORMATION SERVICE.—Paragraph (24) is 

4 amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(24) INFORMATION SERVICE.—The term ‘in6 formation service’ means the offering of a capability 

7 for generating, acquiring, storing, transforming, 

8 processing, retrieving, utilizing, or making available 

9 information via telecommunications, and includes 

10 electronic publishing, but does not include— 

11 ‘‘(A) a telecommunications service; or 

12 ‘‘(B) any use of any such capability for the 

13 management, control, or operation of a tele14 communications system or the management of a 

15 telecommunications service. 

16 Such term includes broadband Internet access serv17 ice. A provider of an information service may not be 

18 treated as a telecommunications carrier under this 

19 Act when engaged in the provision of an information 

20 service, and may not be required to offer such serv21 ice or any component of such service as a tele22 communications service.’’. 

23 (3) TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIER.—Para24 graph (51) is amended by adding at the end the fol25 lowing: ‘‘Such term does not include a provider of an 


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1 information service or of advanced telecommuni2 cations capability (as defined in section 706 of the 

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

4 when engaged in the provision of such service or ca5 pability.’’. 

6 (4) TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE.—Para7 graph (53) is amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: ‘‘Such term does not include any service that 

9 is an information service, any component of an in10 formation service, or advanced telecommunications 

11 capability (as defined in section 706 of the Tele12 communications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302)).’’. 

13 (b) BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE DE14 FINED.—Section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 is 

15 further amended— 

16 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (6) through 

17 (59) as paragraphs (7) through (60), respectively; 

18 and 

19 (2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(6) BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS SERV22 ICE.—The term ‘broadband Internet access service’ 

23 means a mass-market retail service by wire or radio 

24 that provides the capability to transmit data to and 

25 receive data from all or substantially all Internet 


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1 endpoints, including any capabilities that are inci2 dental to and enable the operation of the commu3 nications service, but excluding dial-up Internet ac4 cess service. Broadband Internet access service is an 

5 information service, and includes a service utilizing 

6 advanced telecommunications capability (as defined 

7 in section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 

8 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302)).’’. 

Æ 


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