I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1686

To ensure that the Internet remains open to fair competition, free from

government regulation, and accessible to American consumers.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 5, 1999

Mr. GOODLATTE (for himself and Mr. BOUCHER) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition

to the Committee on Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To ensure that the Internet remains open to fair competition,

free from government regulation, and accessible to American consumers.

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 ‘‘Internet Freedom

5 Act’’.
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1 TITLE I—ANTITRUST AND

2 CRIMINAL PROVISIONS

3 SEC. 101. PROHIBITION ON ANTICOMPETITIVE BEHAVIOR

4 BY INCUMBENT LOCAL EXCHANGE CAR5 RIERS.

6 In any civil action based on a claim arising under

7 section 1, 2, or 3 of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. 1, 2,

8 3), evidence that an incumbent local exchange carrier that

9 has market power in the broadband service provider mar10 ket has willfully and knowingly failed to provide condi11 tioned unbundled local loops when economically reasonable

12 and technically feasible under section 715(a) of the Com13 munications Act of 1934, or restrains unreasonably the

14 ability of a carrier to compete in its provision of

15 broadband services over a local loop, shall be sufficient to

16 establish a presumption of a violation of such section 1,

17 2, or 3 of the Sherman Act.

18 SEC. 102. PROHIBITION ON ANTICOMPETITIVE CONTRACTS

19 BY BROADBAND ACCESS TRANSPORT PRO20 VIDERS.

21 In any civil action based on a claim arising under

22 section 1, 2, or 3 of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. 1, 2,

23 3), evidence that a broadband access transport provider

24 that has market power in the broadband service provider

25 market has offered access to a service provider on terms
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1 and conditions, other than terms justified by demonstrable

2 cost differentials, that are less favorable than those offered

3 by such operator to itself, to an affiliated service provider,

4 or to another service provider, or restrains unreasonably

5 the ability of a service provider from competing in its pro6 vision of broadband services, shall be sufficient to establish

7 a presumption of a violation of such section.

8 SEC. 103. PROHIBITION ON ANTICOMPETITIVE OR DIS9 CRIMINATORY BEHAVIOR BY BROADBAND

10 ACCESS TRANSPORT PROVIDERS.

11 It shall be unlawful for a broadband access transport

12 provider to engage in unfair methods of competition or

13 unfair or deceptive acts or practices, the purpose or effect

14 of which is to discriminate in favor of a service provider

15 that is affiliated with a broadband access transport pro16 vider or to restrain unreasonably the ability of a service

17 provider that is not affiliated with a broadband access

18 transport provider from competing in its provision of any

19 of the services provided by a service provider as set forth

20 in section 105(3).

21 SEC. 104. PROTECTION FROM FRAUDULENT UNSOLICITED

22 E-MAIL.

23 Section 1030 of title 18, United States Code, is

24 amended—

25 (1) in subsection (a)(5)—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subpara2 graph (B); and

3 (B) by inserting after subparagraph (C)

4 the following new subparagraphs:

5 ‘‘(D) intentionally and without authorization

6 initiates the transmission of a bulk unsolicited elec7 tronic mail message to a protected computer with

8 knowledge that such message falsifies an Internet

9 domain, header information, date or time stamp,

10 originating e-mail address or other identifier; or

11 ‘‘(E) intentionally sells or distributes any com12 puter program that—

13 ‘‘(i) is designed or produced primarily for

14 the purpose of concealing the source or routing

15 information of bulk unsolicited electronic mail

16 messages in a manner prohibited by subpara17 graph (D) of this paragraph;

18 ‘‘(ii) has only limited commercially signifi19 cant purpose or use other than to conceal such

20 source or routing information; or

21 ‘‘(iii) is marketed by the violator or an22 other person acting in concert with the violator

23 and with the violator’s knowledge for use in

24 concealing the source or routing information of

25 such messages;
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1 (2) in subsection (c)(2)(A)—

2 (A) by inserting ‘‘(i)’’ after ‘‘in the case of

3 an offense’’; and

4 (B) by inserting after ‘‘an offense punish5 able under this subparagraph;’’ the following: ‘‘;

6 or (ii) under subsection (a)(5)(D) or (a)(5)(E)

7 of this section which results in damage to a

8 protected computer’’;

9 (3) in subsection (c)(2), by adding at the end

10 the following new subparagraph:

11 ‘‘(D) in the case of a violation of subsection

12 (a)(5)(D) or (E), actual monetary loss and statutory

13 damages of $15,000 per violation or an amount of

14 up to $10 per message per violation whichever is

15 greater; and’’;

16 (4) in subsection (e)—

17 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para18 graph (8);

19 (B) by striking the period at the end of

20 paragraph (9); and

21 (C) by adding at the end the following new

22 paragraphs:

23 ‘‘(10) the term ‘initiates the transmission’

24 means, in the case of an electronic mail message, to

25 originate the electronic mail message, and excludes
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1 the actions of any interactive computer service whose

2 facilities or services are used by another person to

3 transmit, relay, or otherwise handle such message;

4 ‘‘(11) the term ‘Internet domain’ means a spe5 cific computer system (commonly referred to as a

6 ‘host’) or collection of computer systems attached to

7 or able to be referenced from the Internet which are

8 assigned a specific reference point on the Internet

9 (commonly referred to as an ‘Internet domain

10 name’) and registered with an organization recog11 nized by the Internet industry as a registrant of

12 Internet domains;

13 ‘‘(12) the term ‘unsolicited electronic mail mes14 sage’ means any substantially identical electronic

15 mail message other than electronic mail initiated by

16 any person to others with whom such person has a

17 prior relationship, including prior business relation18 ship, or electronic mail sent by a source to recipients

19 where such recipients, or their designees, have at

20 any time affirmatively requested to receive commu21 nications from that source; and

22 ‘‘(13) the term ‘Internet’ means all computer

23 and telecommunications facilities, including equip24 ment and operating software, which comprise the

25 interconnected network of networks that employ the
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1 Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, or

2 any predecessor or successor protocols to such pro3 tocol, to communicate information of all kinds by

4 wire or radio.’’.

5 (5) in subsection (g), by inserting ‘‘and reason6 able attorneys’ fees and other litigation costs reason7 ably incurred in connection with civil action’’ after

8 ‘‘injunctive relief or other equitable relief’’.

9 SEC. 105. DEFINITIONS.

10 For purposes of this title:

11 (1) BROADBAND.—The term ‘‘broadband’’ re12 fers to a transmission capability in excess of 200

13 kilobits per second in at least one direction.

14 (2) BROADBAND ACCESS TRANSPORT PRO15 VIDER.—The term ‘‘broadband access transport pro16 vider’’ means one who engages in the broadband

17 transmission of data between a user and his service

18 provider’s point of interconnection with the

19 broadband access transport provider’s facilities.

20 Such term shall also include a service provider who

21 provides to itself, over facilities owned by it or under

22 its control, the broadband transport of services be23 tween itself and its users.

24 (3) SERVICE PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘service

25 provider’’ means a person who provides a service
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1 that enables users to access content, information,

2 electronic mail, or other services. The term may also

3 include access to proprietary content, information,

4 and other services as part of a package of services

5 offered to consumers.

6 (4) INTERNET.—The term ‘‘Internet’’ means all

7 computer and telecommunications facilities, includ8 ing equipment and operating software, which com9 prise the interconnected network of networks that

10 employ the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet

11 Protocol, or any predecessor or successor protocols

12 to such protocol, to communicate information of all

13 kinds by wire or radio.

14 (5) BROADBAND SERVICE PROVIDER MAR15 KET.—The term ‘‘broadband service provider mar16 ket’’ includes the provision of broadband services

17 over a single broadband access transport provider’s

18 facilities.

19 TITLE II—ADDITIONAL

20 PROVISIONS

21 SEC. 201. ACCELERATED DEPLOYMENT OF BROADBAND

22 SERVICES.

23 Title VII of the Communications Act of 1934 is

24 amended by adding at the end thereof the following new

25 section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 715. ACCELERATED DEPLOYMENT OF BROADBAND

2 SERVICES.

3 ‘‘(a) BROADBAND SERVICES PLANS.—

4 ‘‘(1) PLAN REQUIRED.—Within 180 days after

5 the effective date of this section, each local exchange

6 carrier shall submit to the State commission in each

7 State in which such carrier does business a plan to

8 provide broadband telecommunications service in all

9 local exchange areas in which such carrier has tele10 phone exchange service customers as soon as such

11 broadband telecommunications service is economi12 cally reasonably and technically feasible. The plan

13 shall include all terms and conditions, including pric14 ing, under which the services shall be provided. The

15 test of economic reasonability and technical feasi16 bility shall be made separately by the local exchange

17 carrier for each local exchange, and the plan shall be

18 considered certified 45 days after submission unless

19 the State commission rejects the plan within such 45

20 days. Upon rejection of a plan, successive plans shall

21 be submitted until approval is obtained. The plan

22 shall be implemented within 180 days of the certifi23 cation of the plan in each local exchange in which

24 the provision of the service is both economically rea25 sonable and technically feasible. Upon certification

26 of its plan, the carrier shall be obligated by terms
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1 of the plan (including any modifications that it re2 quests that are thereafter certified) but shall other3 wise provide such services free of Federal and State

4 price, rate, rate of return, and profit regulation.

5 Upon a determination by the State commission that

6 a local exchange is served by another provider of

7 broadband telecommunications services, or any

8 broadband Internet access transport provider, or

9 upon a determination by such State commission that

10 the local exchange carrier makes broadband tele11 communications services available to 70 percent of

12 the access lines in an exchange, a local exchange

13 carrier shall no longer be obligated by the terms of

14 any such plan in such local exchange.

15 ‘‘(2) STATE MODIFICATIONS PROHIBITED.—Ex16 cept upon request of the carrier, the State commis17 sion shall have no authority to modify any plan sub18 mitted pursuant to paragraph (1).

19 ‘‘(3) NO COMMISSION AUTHORITY.—The Com20 mission shall have no authority with respect to the

21 terms of any plan and shall have no authority with

22 respect to the approval or rejection of any such plan.

23 ‘‘(b) SUPERSESSION OF OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—

24 An incumbent local exchange carrier’s provision of

25 broadband local telecommunications services shall not be
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1 subject to the requirements of sections 251(c)(3) and

2 251(c)(4) of the Act in any State in which that carrier

3 certifies to the State commission that—

4 ‘‘(1) in central offices in which it provides local

5 loops that are conditioned for broadband services, it

6 provides such loops to other carriers at least as

7 quickly as it provides them for its own customers;

8 ‘‘(2) in central offices in which it does not cur9 rently provide local loops that are conditioned for

10 broadband services, but in which such service is eco11 nomically reasonable and technically feasible, it will

12 provide such loops within 120 days of a request for

13 such conditioning from another carrier; and

14 ‘‘(3) conditioned loops are provided upon such

15 prices and other terms and conditions as the parties

16 shall agree, or in any event of disagreements, as are

17 determined through commercial arbitration, in which

18 the commercial arbitrator shall establish the price

19 based upon the cost of the loops and the costs for

20 such conditioning that have been incurred by the

21 local exchange carrier plus a reasonable profit.’’.

22 SEC. 202. ACCELERATED DEPLOYMENT OF INTERNET

23 BACKBONE.

24 (a) INTERLATA INTERNET SERVICES.—Paragraph

25 (21) of section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
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1 U.S.C. 153(21)), relating to the definition of interLATA

2 service, is amended by inserting before the period the fol3 lowing: ‘‘, except that such term shall not include services

4 that consist of or include the transmission of any data or

5 information, including any writing, signs, signals, pictures,

6 or sounds related to the transmission of such data or in7 formation, by means of the Internet or any other network

8 that employs Internet Protocol-based or other packet9 switched technology’’.

10 (b) VOICE INTERLATA INTERNET SERVICES.—Nei11 ther a Bell operating company, nor any affiliate of a Bell

12 operating company, may provide, by means of the Internet

13 or any other network that employs Internet Protocol-based

14 or other packet-switched technology, two-way voice-only

15 interLATA telecommunications services originating in any

16 of its in-region States until such time as the Federal Com17 munications Commission approves the application of such

18 company for such State pursuant to section 271(d) of the

19 Communications Act of 1934. The terms in this sub20 section shall have the same respective meanings given such

21 terms in sections 3 and 271 of such Act.

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