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[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 40 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 40

     To direct the Federal Communications Commission to promulgate 
      regulations that prohibit certain preferential treatment or 
                  prioritization of Internet traffic.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 7, 2015

 Mr. Leahy (for himself, Mr. Franken, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Whitehouse, and 
 Mr. Heinrich) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
     To direct the Federal Communications Commission to promulgate 
      regulations that prohibit certain preferential treatment or 
                  prioritization of Internet traffic.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Online Competition and Consumer 
Choice Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. FCC REGULATIONS PROHIBITING CERTAIN PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT OR 
              PRIORITIZATION OF INTERNET TRAFFIC.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Commission shall promulgate regulations 
that--
            (1) prohibit a broadband provider from entering into an 
        agreement with an edge provider under which the broadband 
        provider agrees, for consideration, in transmitting network 
        traffic over the broadband Internet access service of an end 
        user, to give preferential treatment or priority to the traffic 
        of such edge provider over the traffic of other edge providers; 
        and
            (2) prohibit a broadband provider, in transmitting network 
        traffic over the broadband Internet access service of an end 
        user, from giving preferential treatment or priority to the 
        traffic of content, applications, services, or devices that are 
        provided or operated by such broadband provider, or an 
        affiliate of such broadband provider, over the traffic of other 
        content, applications, services, or devices.
    (b) Rules of Construction.--
            (1) Certain traffic not affected.--Nothing in this section 
        shall be construed as superseding any obligation or 
        authorization a broadband provider may have to address the 
        needs of emergency communications or law enforcement, public 
        safety, or national security authorities, consistent with or as 
        permitted by applicable law, or as limiting the ability of the 
        provider to do so.
            (2) Clarification of authority.--Nothing in this section 
        shall be construed as limiting the authority of the Commission 
        under any other provision of law, including the authority to 
        promulgate regulations prohibiting or limiting preferential 
        treatment or prioritization of the traffic of an edge provider 
        by a broadband provider under GN Docket No. 14-28 (relating to 
        the matter of protecting and promoting the open Internet).
    (c) Enforcement.--For purposes of sections 503(b) and 504 of the 
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 503(b); 504), this section shall 
be considered to be a part of such Act. With respect to enforcement 
under this section only, the following modifications of such section 
503(b) shall apply:
            (1) Paragraph (5) shall not apply.
            (2) Paragraph (6) shall be applied by substituting the 
        following: ``No forfeiture penalty shall be determined or 
        imposed against any person under this subsection if the 
        violation charged occurred more than 3 years prior to the date 
        of issuance of the required notice or notice of apparent 
        liability.''.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Affiliate.--The term ``affiliate'' has the meaning 
        given such term in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 
        (47 U.S.C. 153).
            (2) Broadband internet access service.--The term 
        ``broadband Internet access service'' has the meaning given 
        such term in section 8.11 of title 47, Code of Federal 
        Regulations.
            (3) Broadband provider.--The term ``broadband provider'' 
        means a provider of broadband Internet access service.
            (4) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
        Communications Commission.
            (5) Edge provider.--The term ``edge provider'' means an 
        individual, institution, or other entity that provides--
                    (A) any content, application, or service over the 
                Internet; or
                    (B) a device used for accessing any content, 
                application, or service over the Internet.
            (6) End user.--The term ``end user'' means an individual, 
        institution, or other entity that uses a broadband Internet 
        access service.
                                 <all>
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