Title: 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.
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications

Summary:
This bill prohibits a provider of broadband internet access service from taking certain actions to restrict content and requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to enforce such obligations.
Specifically, the bill bars a broadband internet provider from (1) blocking lawful content, applications, or services; (2) prohibiting the use of non-harmful devices; (3) throttling lawful internet traffic; and (4) engaging in paid prioritization. Additionally, a provider is required to disclose accurate and relevant management practices, performance information, and commercial terms sufficient for consumers to make informed choices and for providers of content, applications, services, and devices to develop and market new internet offerings.
Additionally, the bill prohibits the FCC or a state commission from relying on their duty to encourage the deployment of advanced telecommunications capability as a grant of authority.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1101 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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 
        Telecommunications 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 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.

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

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 Access Service Providers.--
A person engaged in the provision 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 management;
            ``(2) may not prohibit the use of non-harmful devices, 
        subject to reasonable network management;
            ``(3) may not throttle lawful traffic by selectively 
        slowing, speeding, degrading, or enhancing internet traffic 
        based on source, destination, or content, subject to reasonable 
        network management;
            ``(4) may not engage in paid prioritization; and
            ``(5) shall publicly disclose accurate and relevant 
        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 
        content, application, service, and device providers to develop, 
        market, and maintain internet offerings, except that a provider 
        is not required to publicly disclose competitively sensitive 
        information or information that could compromise network 
        security or undermine the efficacy of reasonable network 
        management practices.
    ``(b) Commission Authority.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Commission shall enforce the 
        obligations established in subsection (a) through adjudication 
        of complaints alleging violations of such subsection but may 
        not expand the internet openness obligations for provision of 
        broadband internet access service beyond the obligations 
        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 communications 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 copyright 
        infringement or other unlawful activity.
    ``(d) Consumer Choice.--
            ``(1) In general.--Nothing in this section shall be 
        construed to limit consumers' choice of service plans or 
        consumers' control over their chosen broadband internet access 
        service or, except as provided in paragraph (2), the ability of 
        broadband internet access service providers to offer 
        specialized services.
            ``(2) Prohibition on certain practices regarding 
        specialized services.--Specialized services 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 purposes 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 other mass-market retail service 
providing advanced telecommunications 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 practice is reasonable if it is appropriate 
and tailored to achieving a legitimate network management purpose, 
taking into account the particular network architecture and any 
technology and operational limitations of the broadband internet access 
service provider.
    ``(g) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Broadband internet access service.--
                    ``(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; evasion.--The term 
                includes any service that--
                            ``(i) the Commission finds to be providing 
                        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 internet 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 `specialized 
        services' means services other than broadband internet access 
        service that are offered over the same network as, and that may 
        share network capacity with, broadband internet access 
        service.''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORITY UNDER SECTION 706 OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 
              1996.

    (a) In General.--Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 
(47 U.S.C. 1302) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
    ``(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 further 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 ``subsection'' and 
        inserting ``section''.
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