I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1101 
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 Telecommuni-
cations Act of 1996 as a grant of authority. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 7, 2019 
Mr. WALDEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to ensure inter-
net openness, to prohibit blocking lawful content and 
non-harmful devices, to prohibit throttling data, to pro-
hibit paid prioritization, to require transparency of net-
work 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. INTERNET OPENNESS. 
Title I of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘SEC. 14. INTERNET OPENNESS. 
‘‘(a) OBLIGATIONS OF BROADBAND INTERNET AC-
CESS SERVICE PROVIDERS.—A person engaged in the pro-
vision of broadband internet access service, insofar as such 
person is so engaged— 
‘‘(1) may not block lawful content, applications, 
or services, subject to reasonable network manage-
ment; 
‘‘(2) may not prohibit the use of non-harmful 
devices, subject to reasonable network management; 
‘‘(3) may not throttle lawful traffic by selec-
tively slowing, speeding, degrading, or enhancing 
internet traffic based on source, destination, or con-
tent, subject to reasonable network management; 
‘‘(4) may not engage in paid prioritization; and 
‘‘(5) shall publicly disclose accurate and rel-
evant information in plain language regarding the 
network management practices, performance, and 
commercial terms of its broadband internet access 
services sufficient for consumers to make informed 
choices regarding use of such services and for con-
tent, application, service, and device providers to de-
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velop, market, and maintain internet offerings, ex-
cept that a provider is not required to publicly dis-
close competitively sensitive information or informa-
tion that could compromise network security or un-
dermine the efficacy of reasonable network manage-
ment practices. 
‘‘(b) COMMISSION AUTHORITY.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall en-
force the obligations established in subsection (a) 
through adjudication of complaints alleging viola-
tions of such subsection but may not expand the 
internet openness obligations for provision of 
broadband internet access service beyond the obliga-
tions established in such subsection, whether by 
rulemaking or otherwise. 
‘‘(2) FORMAL COMPLAINT PROCEDURES.—Not 
later than 60 days after the date of the enactment 
of this section, the Commission shall adopt formal 
complaint procedures to address alleged violations of 
subsection (a). 
‘‘(c) OTHER LAWS AND CONSIDERATIONS.—Nothing 
in this section— 
‘‘(1) supersedes any obligation or authorization 
a provider of broadband internet access service may 
have to address the needs of emergency communica-
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tions or law enforcement, public safety, or national 
security authorities, consistent with or as permitted 
by applicable law, or limits the provider’s ability to 
do so; or 
‘‘(2) prohibits reasonable efforts by a provider 
of broadband internet access service to address copy-
right infringement or other unlawful activity. 
‘‘(d) CONSUMER CHOICE.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Nothing in this section 
shall be construed to limit consumers’ choice of serv-
ice plans or consumers’ control over their chosen 
broadband internet access service or, except as pro-
vided in paragraph (2), the ability of broadband 
internet access service providers to offer specialized 
services. 
‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN PRACTICES RE-
GARDING SPECIALIZED SERVICES.—Specialized serv-
ices may not be offered or provided in ways that 
threaten the meaningful availability of broadband 
internet access service or that have been devised or 
promoted in a manner designed to evade the pur-
poses of this section. 
‘‘(e) BROADBAND TO BE CONSIDERED INFORMATION 
SERVICE.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
the provision of broadband internet access service or any 
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other mass-market retail service providing advanced tele-
communications capability (as defined in section 706 of 
the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302)) 
shall be considered to be an information service. 
‘‘(f) REASONABLE NETWORK MANAGEMENT.—For 
purposes of subsection (a), a network management prac-
tice is reasonable if it is appropriate and tailored to achiev-
ing a legitimate network management purpose, taking into 
account the particular network architecture and any tech-
nology and operational limitations of the broadband inter-
net access service provider. 
‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) BROADBAND
INTERNET
ACCESS
SERV-
ICE.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘broadband 
internet access service’ means a mass-market 
retail service by wire or radio that provides the 
capability to transmit data to and receive data 
from all or substantially all internet endpoints, 
including any capabilities that are incidental to 
and enable the operation of the communications 
service, but excluding dial-up internet access 
service. 
‘‘(B) 
FUNCTIONAL
EQUIVALENT; 
EVA-
SION.—The term includes any service that— 
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‘‘(i) the Commission finds to be pro-
viding a functional equivalent of the service 
described in subparagraph (A); or 
‘‘(ii) is used to evade the protections 
set forth in subsection (a). 
‘‘(2) PAID
PRIORITIZATION.—The term ‘paid 
prioritization’ means the speeding up or slowing 
down of some internet traffic in relation to other 
internet traffic over the consumer’s broadband inter-
net access service by prioritizing or deprioritizing 
packets based on compensation or lack thereof by 
the sender to the broadband internet access service 
provider. 
‘‘(3) SPECIALIZED SERVICES.—The term ‘spe-
cialized 
services’ 
means 
services 
other 
than 
broadband internet access service that are offered 
over the same network as, and that may share net-
work capacity with, broadband internet access serv-
ice.’’. 
SEC. 2. AUTHORITY UNDER SECTION 706 OF THE TELE-
COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1996. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 706 of the Telecommuni-
cations Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub-
section (e); and 
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(2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(d) NO GRANT OF AUTHORITY.—The Commission 
or a State commission with regulatory jurisdiction over 
telecommunications services may not rely on this section 
as a grant of authority.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.—Section 706 of the 
Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302) is fur-
ther amended— 
(1) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘(as defined’’ 
and all that follows through ‘‘note))’’; and 
(2) in subsection (e), as redesignated, in the 
matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘sub-
section’’ and inserting ‘‘section’’. 
Æ 
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