I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 196 
To direct the Federal Communications Commission to promulgate regulations 
that prohibit certain preferential treatment or prioritization of Internet traffic. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 7, 2015 
Ms. MATSUI (for herself, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. HONDA, Ms. 
GABBARD, Ms. TSONGAS, and Mr. TAKANO) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To direct the Federal Communications Commission to pro-
mulgate regulations that prohibit certain preferential 
treatment or prioritization of Internet traffic. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives 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’’. 
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SEC. 2. FCC REGULATIONS PROHIBITING CERTAIN PREF-
ERENTIAL 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 consider-
ation, 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 transmit-
ting network traffic over the broadband Internet ac-
cess service of an end user, from giving preferential 
treatment or priority to the traffic of content, appli-
cations, services, or devices that are provided or op-
erated 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.—Noth-
ing in this section shall be construed as superseding 
any obligation or authorization a broadband provider 
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may have to address the needs of emergency commu-
nications or law enforcement, public safety, or na-
tional security authorities, consistent with or as per-
mitted 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 au-
thority of the Commission under any other provision 
of law, including the authority to promulgate regula-
tions 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 sec-
tion 503(b) shall apply: 
(1) Paragraph (5) shall not apply. 
(2) Paragraph (6) shall be applied by sub-
stituting the following: ‘‘No forfeiture penalty shall 
be determined or imposed against any person under 
this subsection if the violation charged occurred 
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