I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4129 

To provide a clear and unambiguous structure for the jurisdictional and 

regulatory treatment for the offering or provision of voice-over-Internetprotocol applications, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 2, 2004 

Mr. PICKERING introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on 

the Judiciary, 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 provide a clear and unambiguous structure for the jurisdictional and regulatory treatment for the offering or 

provision of voice-over-Internet-protocol applications, and 

for other purposes. 

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; PURPOSE. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be referred to as 

5 the ‘‘VoIP Regulatory Freedom Act of 2004’’. 

6 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to prevent 

7 the imposition of harmful obligations or a patchwork of 
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1 multiple and discriminatory regulations on the providers 

2 of applications that utilize the Internet protocol or any 

3 successor protocol to offer 2-way or multidirectional voice 

4 communications. 

5 SEC. 2. ASSERTION OF FEDERAL JURISDICTION. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi7 sion of law, responsibility and authority to regulate the 

8 offering or provision of a voice-over-Internet-protocol ap9 plication is reserved solely to the Federal Government. 

10 (b) PROHIBITION OF STATE REGULATION.—No 

11 State or political subdivision thereof may enact or enforce 

12 any law, rule, regulation, standard, or other provision hav13 ing the force or effect of law that regulates, or has the 

14 effect of regulating, the offering or provision of a VoIP 

15 application. 

16 (c) PROHIBITION OF DELEGATION TO STATES.—Any 

17 responsibility or authority to regulate the offering or pro18 vision of a VoIP application that, pursuant to subsection 

19 (a), is reserved by the Federal Government may not be 

20 delegated, by any Federal agency or officer, to any State 

21 or political subdivision thereof. 

22 SEC. 3. PREEMPTION OF BROAD FCC AUTHORITY. 

23 Except as specifically provided in this Act and not24 withstanding any other provision of law, the Commission 
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1 shall not impose any rule or regulation on, or otherwise 

2 regulate, the offering or provision of a VoIP application. 

3 SEC. 4. FCC AUTHORITY REGARDING CONNECTED VOIP AP4 PLICATIONS. 

5 (a) INTERPROVIDER COMPENSATION.— 

6 (1) RULEMAKING.—Within 180 days after the 

7 date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission 

8 shall complete a proceeding to establish a set of 

9 rules and standards to provide for appropriate ar10 rangements to compensate providers of facilities and 

11 equipment used to transmit communications employ12 ing a connected VoIP application. 

13 (2) FACTORS.—In the proceeding the Commis14 sion shall— 

15 (A) provide for an appropriate transition 

16 period to allow providers of such facilities and 

17 equipment and providers of connected VoIP ap18 plications to comply with any rules and stand19 ards established; and 

20 (B) consider the unique nature and cir21 cumstances relating to the use of such facilities 

22 and equipment in varying geographic markets 

23 and rural areas. 

24 (b) UNIVERSAL SERVICE.—Within 180 days after the 

25 date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall 
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1 complete a proceeding to provide a contribution mecha2 nism applicable to connected VoIP applications, which 

3 may include a collection methodology based on the assign4 ment of telephone numbers to end users, other methodolo5 gies, or any combination thereof. In the proceeding, the 

6 Commission shall seek to ensure the preservation, en7 hancement, and long-term sustainability of universal serv8 ice by maximizing participation in the support of universal 

9 service among the greatest number of providers of con10 nected VoIP applications. 

11 (c) LAW ENFORCEMENT ACCESS.— 

12 (1) REQUIREMENTS REGARDING ASSISTANCE

13 CAPABILITIES.—Effective as provided in paragraph 

14 (3)(D), each provider of a connected VoIP applica15 tion shall ensure that its equipment, facilities, or 

16 services are capable of— 

17 (A) enabling the government to intercept 

18 communications transmitted using such applica19 tion and to access call-identifying information 

20 regarding communications so transmitted, and 

21 (B) delivering such intercepted commu22 nications and call-identifying information to the 

23 government, 

24 for the same purposes, to a similar extent, and sub25 ject to similar limitations and protections (including 
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1 protections regarding privacy and security and pro2 tections ensuring access only pursuant to lawful au3 thorization) that, under sections 103 and 105 of the 

4 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement 

5 Act, are required of the capabilities of the equip6 ment, facilities, or services of a telecommunications 

7 carrier. 

8 (2) DETERMINATION REGARDING FEASI9 BILITY.—Not later than 180 days after the date of 

10 the enactment of this Act, and not later than every 

11 180 days thereafter, the Commission shall conduct a 

12 proceeding to determine whether it is technologically 

13 feasible and reasonable to commence applicability of 

14 the assistance capability requirements established 

15 under paragraph (1). 

16 (3) EFFECT OF DETERMINATION.—If the Com17 mission, pursuant to a proceeding under paragraph 

18 (2), determines that it is technologically feasible and 

19 reasonable to commence applicability of the assist20 ance capability requirements established under para21 graph (1)— 

22 (A) the requirement under paragraph (2) 

23 to conduct further semi-annual proceedings 

24 shall not apply after such determination; 
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1 (B) not later than 180 days after such de2 termination, the Commission shall establish 

3 rules, technical requirements, and standards 

4 that— 

5 (i) implement the requirements under 

6 paragraph (1); 

7 (ii) protect the privacy and security of 

8 communications not authorized to be inter9 cepted; 

10 (iii) minimize the cost of such compli11 ance on customers or subscribers; 

12 (iv) serve the policy of the United 

13 States to encourage the provision of new 

14 technologies and services to the public; and 

15 (v) provide a reasonable time and con16 ditions for compliance with and the transi17 tion to any new standard; 

18 (C) in establishing such rules, technical re19 quirement, and standards, the Commission con20 sult with providers of connected VoIP applica21 tions, manufacturers of equipment used by such 

22 applications, other appropriate parties providing 

23 services used in such applications, the Attorney 

24 General of the United States, and State and 

25 local law enforcement agencies; and 
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1 (D) the requirement under paragraph (1) 

2 shall take effect upon the expiration of the 180- 

3 day period beginning upon such determination. 

4 SEC. 5. VOLUNTARY INDUSTRY CONSENSUS PROCESS RE5 GARDING OTHER CONNECTED VOIP OBLIGA6 TIONS. 

7 (a) VOLUNTARY PROCESS.—The Commission shall 

8 appoint an appropriate representative industry organiza9 tion or organizations which shall, within 180 days after 

10 the date of the enactment of this Act, develop, as applica11 ble, consensus guidelines, protocols, or performance re12 quirements pertaining to the offering or provision of con13 nected VoIP applications for— 

14 (1) providing comparable capabilities to 911 

15 and enhanced 911 services; 

16 (2) improving use by the disabled community; 

17 (3) improving reliability of voice over Internet 

18 protocol applications; and 

19 (4) ensuring appropriate security for the appli20 cation and voice communications. 

21 (b) INFORMATION TO CUSTOMERS.—A provider of a 

22 connected VoIP application that does not provide for its 

23 customers services that are comparable to 911 service and 

24 enhanced 911 service shall provide a clear and conspicuous 

25 notice of the failure to provide such services to each cus-
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1 tomer prior to the offering of the application to that cus2 tomer. 

3 (c) TECHNICAL SUPPORT.—The Commission shall 

4 provide technical support, as appropriate, to the organiza5 tion selected pursuant to subsection (a). 

6 SEC. 6. COMMISSION REVIEW. 

7 Beginning in 2005, the Commission shall provide a 

8 report to the Congress not less than biennially indicating 

9 any regulatory obligations that it recommends be enacted 

10 on the offering or provision of a VoIP application, includ11 ing nondiscriminatory treatment for processing or treat12 ment of digital packets. 

13 SEC. 7. NO STATE OR LOCAL TAXATION OF VOIP APPLICA14 TIONS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—No State or political subdivision 

16 shall impose any tax, fee, surcharge, or other charge for 

17 the purpose of generating revenues for governmental pur18 poses on the offering or provision of a VoIP application. 

19 (b) EXEMPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to 

20 a fee imposed for a specific privilege, service, or benefit 

21 conferred. 

22 SEC. 8. NO IMPACT ON TRANSMISSION FACILITIES. 

23 Nothing in this Act shall affect the authority of the 

24 Commission or any State commission to regulate the 

25 transmission facilities used to transmit a voice commu-
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1 nication of a VoIP application. This section may not be 

2 construed to authorize the Commission or any State to 

3 regulate the offering or provision of a VoIP application 

4 by regulating such transmission facilities. 

5 SEC. 9. FTC AUTHORITY. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

7 (b), nothing in this Act shall be constructed to affect the 

8 authority of the Federal Trade Commission to prevent un9 fair or deceptive acts or practices. 

10 (b) REGULATIONS EXCLUDED.—Subsection (a) does 

11 not authorize the Federal Trade Commission to issue any 

12 regulations to implement this Act. 

13 SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this Act: 

15 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

16 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

17 (2) CONNECTED VOIP APPLICATION.—The term 

18 ‘‘connected VoIP application’’ means a VoIP appli19 cation that is capable of receiving voice communica20 tions from or sending voice communications to the 

21 public switched telephone network, or both. 

22 (3) CUSTOMER.—The term ‘‘customer’’ includes 

23 a consumer of goods or services whether for a fee, 

24 in exchange for an explicit benefit, or provided for 

25 free. 
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1 (4) REGULATE.—The term ‘‘regulate’’ includes 

2 taking any governmental action that restricts, pro3 hibits, limits, or burdens, or imposes any obstacle, 

4 obligation, or duty, or interferes with, an applica5 tion. 

6 (5) UNIVERSAL SERVICE.—The term ‘‘universal 

7 service’’ has the meaning given such term by section 

8 254(c) of such Act (47 U.S.C. 254(c)). 

9 (6) VOICE-OVER-INTERNET-PROTOCOL APPLICA10 TION; VOIP APPLICATION.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The terms ‘‘Voice-over12 Internet-protocol application’’ and ‘‘VoIP appli13 cation’’ mean the use of software, hardware, or 

14 network equipment for real-time 2-way or 

15 multidirectional voice communications over the 

16 public Internet or a private network utilizing 

17 Internet protocol, or any successor protocol, in 

18 whole or part, to connect users notwith19 standing— 

20 (i) the underlying transmission tech21 nology used to transmit the communica22 tions; 

23 (ii) whether the packetizing and 

24 depacketizing of the communications oc-
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1 curs at the customer premise or network 

2 level; or 

3 (iii) the software, hardware, or net4 work equipment used to connect users. 

5 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term does not in6 clude an application that is used for voice com7 munications that both originate and terminate 

8 on the public switched telephone network. 

9 (b) COMMON TERMINOLOGY.—Except as otherwise 

10 provided in subsection (a), terms used in this Act shall 

11 have the meaning provided under section 3 of the Commu12 nications Act of 1934. 

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