II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2853 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to ensure Internet openness, 

to prohibit blocking lawful content and non-harmful devices, to prohibit 

throttling data, to prohibit paid prioritization, to require transparency 

of network management practices, to provide that broadband shall be 

considered to be an information service, and to prohibit the Commission 

or a State commission from relying on section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 as a grant of authority. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 16, 2018 

Mr. THUNE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to ensure Internet openness, to prohibit blocking lawful content and 

non-harmful devices, to prohibit throttling data, to prohibit paid prioritization, to require transparency of network management practices, to provide that broadband 

shall be considered to be an information service, and 

to prohibit the Commission or a State commission from 

relying on section 706 of the Telecommunications Act 

of 1996 as a grant of authority. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. INTERNET OPENNESS. 

2 Title I of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

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

4 following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 13. INTERNET OPENNESS. 

6 ‘‘(a) OBLIGATIONS OF BROADBAND INTERNET AC7 CESS SERVICE PROVIDERS.—A person engaged in the pro8 vision of broadband Internet access service, insofar as 

9 such person is so engaged— 

10 ‘‘(1) may not block lawful content, applications, 

11 or services, subject to reasonable network manage12 ment; 

13 ‘‘(2) may not prohibit the use of non-harmful 

14 devices, subject to reasonable network management; 

15 ‘‘(3) may not throttle lawful traffic by selec16 tively slowing, speeding, degrading, or enhancing 

17 Internet traffic based on source, destination, or con18 tent, subject to reasonable network management; 

19 ‘‘(4) may not engage in paid prioritization; and 

20 ‘‘(5) shall publicly disclose accurate and rel21 evant information in plain language regarding the 

22 network management practices, performance, and 

23 commercial terms of its broadband Internet access 

24 services sufficient for consumers to make informed 

25 choices regarding use of such services and for con26 tent, application, service, and device providers to deVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 May 23, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2853.IS S2853

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1 velop, market, and maintain Internet offerings, ex2 cept that a provider is not required to publicly dis3 close competitively sensitive information or informa4 tion that could compromise network security or un5 dermine the efficacy of reasonable network manage6 ment practices. 

7 ‘‘(b) COMMISSION AUTHORITY.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall en9 force the obligations established in subsection (a) 

10 through adjudication of complaints alleging viola11 tions of such subsection but may not expand the 

12 Internet openness obligations for provision of 

13 broadband Internet access service beyond the obliga14 tions established in such subsection, whether by 

15 rulemaking or otherwise. 

16 ‘‘(2) FORMAL COMPLAINT PROCEDURES.—Not 

17 later than 60 days after the date of the enactment 

18 of this section, the Commission shall adopt formal 

19 complaint procedures to address alleged violations of 

20 subsection (a). 

21 ‘‘(c) OTHER LAWS AND CONSIDERATIONS.—Nothing 

22 in this section— 

23 ‘‘(1) supersedes any obligation or authorization 

24 a provider of broadband Internet access service may 

25 have to address the needs of emergency communicaVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 May 23, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2853.IS S2853

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1 tions or law enforcement, public safety, or national 

2 security authorities, consistent with or as permitted 

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

4 do so; or 

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

6 of broadband Internet access service to address 

7 copyright infringement or other unlawful activity. 

8 ‘‘(d) CONSUMER CHOICE.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this section 

10 shall be construed to limit consumers’ choice of serv11 ice plans or consumers’ control over their chosen 

12 broadband Internet access service or, except as pro13 vided in paragraph (2), the ability of broadband 

14 Internet access service providers to offer specialized 

15 services. 

16 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN PRACTICES RE17 GARDING SPECIALIZED SERVICES.—Specialized serv18 ices may not be offered or provided in ways that 

19 threaten the meaningful availability of broadband 

20 Internet access service or that have been devised or 

21 promoted in a manner designed to evade the pur22 poses of this section. 

23 ‘‘(e) BROADBAND TO BE CONSIDERED INFORMATION

24 SERVICE.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

25 the provision of broadband Internet access service or any 


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1 other mass market retail service providing advanced tele2 communications capability (as defined in section 706 of 

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

4 shall be considered to be an information service. 

5 ‘‘(f) REASONABLE NETWORK MANAGEMENT.—For 

6 purposes of subsection (a), a network management prac7 tice is reasonable if it is appropriate and tailored to achiev8 ing a legitimate network management purpose, taking into 

9 account the particular network architecture and any tech10 nology and operational limitations of the broadband Inter11 net access service provider. 

12 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 ‘‘(1) BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS SERV14 ICE.—The term ‘broadband Internet access service’ 

15 means a mass market retail service by wire or radio 

16 that provides the capability to transmit data to and 

17 receive data from all or substantially all Internet 

18 endpoints, including any capabilities that are inci19 dental to and enable the operation of the commu20 nications service, but excluding dial-up Internet ac21 cess. Such term also encompasses any service that 

22 the Commission finds to be providing a functional 

23 equivalent of the service described in the previous 

24 sentence, or that is used to evade the obligations set 

25 forth in subsection (a). 


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1 ‘‘(2) PAID PRIORITIZATION.—The term ‘paid 

2 prioritization’ means the speeding up or slowing 

3 down of some Internet traffic in relation to other 

4 Internet traffic over the consumer’s broadband 

5 Internet access service by prioritizing or deprioritiz6 ing packets based on compensation or lack thereof 

7 by the sender to the broadband Internet access serv8 ice provider. 

9 ‘‘(3) SPECIALIZED SERVICES.—The term ‘spe10 cialized services’ means services other than 

11 broadband Internet access service that are offered 

12 over the same network as, and that may share net13 work capacity with, broadband Internet access serv14 ice.’’. 

15 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY UNDER SECTION 706 OF THE TELE16 COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1996. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 706 of the Telecommuni18 cations Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302) is amended— 

19 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub20 section (e); and 

21 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(d) NO GRANT OF AUTHORITY.—The Commission 

24 or a State commission with regulatory jurisdiction over 


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1 telecommunications services may not rely on this section 

2 as a grant of authority.’’. 

3 (b) TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.—Section 706 of the 

4 Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302) is fur5 ther amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘(as defined’’ 

7 and all that follows through ‘‘note))’’; and 

8 (2) in subsection (e), as redesignated, in the 

9 matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘sub10 section’’ and inserting ‘‘section’’. 

Æ 


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