jiayi-li23/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Technology — Telecommunications
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Date: 2016-09-13 00:00:00

Community Broadband Act of 2016

This bill amends the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to bar states from prohibiting their state government, a political subdivision, or an Indian tribe from providing (i.e., serving as a "public provider" of) high-speed broadband telecommunications capabilities or services to persons or public or private entities.

A public provider that regulates competing private providers of such telecommunications services may not discriminate in favor of itself or a provider that it owns.
Topic: Technology — Telecommunications
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Date: 2016-09-26 00:00:00

Improving Broadband Access for Veterans Act of 2016

This bill requires the Federal Communications Commission to release a notice of inquiry that seeks public comment on the development of rules to promote broadband Internet access service for veterans, in particular those with low-incomes or who reside in rural areas.
Topic: Technology — Telecommunications
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Date: 2016-11-29 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Improving Broadband Access for Veterans Act of 2016

(Sec. 2) This bill requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to submit to Congress a report on promoting broadband Internet access service for veterans, in particular low-income veterans and veterans residing in rural areas.

 In preparing the report, the FCC shall provide the public with notice and an opportunity to comment.
Topic: Technology — Telecommunications
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Date: 2015-01-07 00:00:00

Online Competition and Consumer Choice Act of 2015

Directs the Federal Communications Commission to promulgate regulations that prohibit broadband providers, in transmitting network traffic over the broadband Internet access service of an end user, from: (1) entering an agreement with an edge provider (a provider of Internet content, applications, services, or access devices) to give preferential treatment or priority to the traffic of such edge provider in exchange for consideration (commonly referred to as "paid prioritization"); and (2) giving preferential treatment or priority to content, applications, services, or devices that are provided or operated by such broadband provider or an affiliate of such broadband provider.

Prohibits this Act from superseding any obligation or authorization of a broadband provider to address the needs of emergency communications, law enforcement, public safety, or national security authorities.

Sets forth enforcement authority under the Communications Act of 1934, with modified forfeiture standards.
Topic: Technology — Telecommunications
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Date: 2015-01-07 00:00:00

Ending Mobile Phone Welfare Act of 2015

Prohibits a provider of commercial mobile communications service from receiving universal service support under specified provisions of the Communications Act of 1934 for the provision of such service through the Federal Communications Commission's Lifeline program that provides discounts on monthly telephone service to qualifying low-income consumers.
Topic: Technology — Telecommunications
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2015-01-07 00:00:00

Telephone Excise Tax Elimination Act of 2015

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the excise tax on communication services (i.e., local telephone service, toll telephone service, and teletypewriter exchange service).
Topic: Technology — Telecommunications
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Date: 2015-02-09 00:00:00

Rural Spectrum Accessibility Act of 2015

Directs the Federal Communications Commission to establish a program under which a wireless carrier receiving a license under specified provisions of the Communications Act of 1934 may partition or disaggregate the license in order to make unused spectrum available to small carriers or carriers serving certain rural areas.

Defines "small carrier" as a carrier with not more than 1,500 employees as calculated under regulatory standards used by the Small Business Administration to determine the number of individuals employed by a business concern on a full-time, part-time, or other basis.

Provides carriers receiving such licenses and participating in the program with a three-year extension of licenses granted under this Act.
Topic: Technology — Telecommunications
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Date: 2015-03-12 00:00:00

USF Equitable Distribution Act of 2015

Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require at least 75% of all amounts collected by interstate telecommunications providers from consumers in a rural state for the purpose of making certain contributions to universal service funds established by the Federal Communications Commission to be allocated to consumers in that rural state.

Defines "rural state" as a state in which the total population density is not more than 200 people per square mile, as determined by the latest available decennial census.

Prohibits this Act from being construed to require an increase in amounts collected by interstate telecommunications providers from consumers for the purpose of making such contributions.
Topic: Technology — Telecommunications
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Date: 2015-03-19 00:00:00

Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act of 2016

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require intermediate providers that offer the capability to transmit voice communications and signaling information from one destination to another, and that charge a rate to any other entity (including an affiliated entity) for such a transmission, to: (1) register with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and (2) comply with service quality standards to be established by the FCC.

An "intermediate provider" is an entity that: (1) enters a business arrangement with a long-distance voice service provider that makes the initial call path choice for more than 100,000 domestic retail subscriber lines, or with another intermediate provider, to carry, route, or transmit voice traffic from a call placed from or to an end user connection using a North American Numbering Plan resource; and (2) does not itself (directly or in conjunction with an affiliate) serve as such a long-distance initial call path choice provider in the context of originating or terminating a given call.

The bill prohibits such long-distance providers (including local exchange carriers, interexchange carriers, commercial mobile radio services, interconnected voice over Internet Protocol [VoIP] services, and certain non-interconnected VoIP services) from using an intermediate provider to transmit voice communications and signals unless the intermediate provider is so registered.

The FCC must: (1) ensure the integrity of the transmission of voice communications to all customers in the United States, (2) prevent unjust or unreasonable discrimination among areas of the United States in the delivery of such voice communications, and (3) make a registry of intermediate providers publicly available on the FCC website.

The bill shall not be construed to preempt or expand the authority of a state agency or public utility commission to collect data, or enforce state law and regulations, regarding the completion of intrastate voice communications.

Certain long-distance providers that make initial call path choices are exempt from service quality standards that the FCC is required to establish under this bill if they certify under a safe harbor provision in existing FCC rules that they monitor the performance of, or do not use, intermediate providers.
Topic: Technology — Telecommunications
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Date: 2015-03-26 00:00:00

Federal Spectrum Incentive Act of 2015

Amends the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act to allow federal entities that utilize government station licenses to participate in the incentive auction program under which licensees of electromagnetic spectrum voluntarily relinquish their spectrum rights in order for such spectrum to be auctioned for a repurposed commercial use in exchange for a percentage of the auction proceeds.

Permits such federal entities, instead of being reimbursed for the costs of sharing frequencies with nonfederal users or relocating to other frequencies as provided for under current law, to receive a percentage of the proceeds from spectrum it relinquishes for auction by electing to: (1) discontinue operations on eligible frequencies without relocating to other frequencies, or (2) relocate operations to frequencies assigned to another federal entity in order for such entities to share frequencies.

Establishes in the Treasury a Federal Spectrum Incentive Fund to be administered by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in consultation with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

Requires 1% of the proceeds from such auctions to be deposited in such Fund and the remainder to be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury for the sole purpose of deficit reduction.

Directs OMB to transfer from the Fund to a federal entity a specified amount attributable to the auction of frequencies vacated by such entity. Permits federal entities to use such amounts for: (1) any purposes permitted under the terms and conditions of an appropriations account for which budgetary resources were canceled for a fiscal year under a sequestration order under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, provided that the amount used does not exceed the amount by which the account was reduced under the sequestration order for such fiscal year; or (2) a transfer of amounts to an incumbent federal entity for such purposes when the federal entity relinquishing spectrum relocates its operations to frequencies assigned to another federal entity in order to share frequencies.
Topic: Technology — Telecommunications
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2015-05-07 00:00:00

Wireless Telecommunications Tax and Fee Collection Fairness Act of 2015

Prohibits a state or a local jurisdiction from requiring a person to collect from, or remit on behalf of, any other person a state or local tax, fee, or surcharge imposed on the purchase or use of any wireless telecommunications service within the state unless the collection or remittance is in connection with a financial transaction between: (1) the person that the state or local jurisdiction requires to collect or remit the tax, fee, or surcharge; and (2) the purchaser or user of the wireless telecommunications service. Allows any person who is aggrieved by a violation of such prohibition to bring a civil action in U.S. district court for equitable relief.
Topic: Technology — Telecommunications
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-05-11 00:00:00

This bill directs the Government Accountability Office to study the effects of forward capacity auctions or other capacity mechanisms established by Independent System Operators or Regional Transmission Organizations with respect to:

 consumer prices for electricity; installation of new electrical generation systems; preservation of existing electrical generation systems; and competition in energy markets, including the potential for the use of undue market power or manipulation in the auctions. The report to Congress on the study must assess whether the auctions or capacity mechanisms are producing rates that are just and reasonable.
Topic: Technology — Telecommunications
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Date: 2015-06-01 00:00:00

Broadband Adoption Act of 2015

Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to adopt a final rule establishing support under the Universal Service Fund Lifeline Assistance Program for qualifying low-income consumers in urban and rural areas to purchase broadband Internet access service at reduced charges by reimbursing participating providers for each such consumer served.

Requires the program to allow qualifying consumers to elect to apply support from the Lifeline program to basic telephone service, voice telephony service, or broadband Internet access service, regardless of whether the service is purchased as a stand-alone service or in a bundle.

Directs the FCC to consult with the federal-state joint board on universal service regarding ways to encourage states to develop programs in conjunction with the Lifeline program.

Requires the program to be technology neutral to promote competition from service providers.

Requires participating broadband Internet access service providers to obtain FCC authorization to participate in the Lifeline program, but a provider is not required to be an eligible telecommunications carrier to receive support under the program.

Directs the FCC to: (1) adopt regulations to prevent receipt of duplicative support under the Lifeline program, and (2) establish a national database to determine consumer eligibility.
Topic: Technology — Telecommunications
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Date: 2015-06-10 00:00:00

Robocall and Call Spoofing Enforcement Improvements Act of 2015

Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to authorize the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to impose forfeiture penalties without first sending a citation regarding the charged violation against persons not licensed by the FCC who violate prohibitions on the use of automated telephone equipment. (Currently, if existing exceptions do not apply, forfeiture penalties may not be imposed unless the person is sent a citation prior to a notice of apparent liability and that person subsequently engages in the same type of conduct described in the citation.)

Expands the statute of limitations period and increases the maximum forfeiture penalty applicable to non-licensed automated telephone equipment violations.

Expands prohibitions on the provision of inaccurate caller identification information to persons outside the United States if the recipient is within the United States.

Directs providers of spoofing services to take such steps as the FCC may prescribe to verify that users do not engage in caller identification information violations. Defines "spoofing service" as a service that substitutes, or permits a user to substitute, another name or any number for display as the caller identification information for a call or text message.

Requires the FCC to impose recordkeeping and reporting obligations on spoofing service providers. Authorizes the FCC to subpoena caller identification information transmitted by a subscriber to or customer of the spoofing service.

Expands the definition "caller identification information" to include text messages.

Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) telecommunications carriers have the legal authority to offer consumers services that block or filter robocalls, and (2) the federal government should encourage telecommunications carriers to develop and implement such services.
Topic: Technology — Telecommunications
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Date: 2015-06-10 00:00:00

Requires the Federal Communications Commission to submit a quarterly report to Congress regarding the Lifeline program, which provides discounts on telephone service to qualifying low-income consumers. Requires the reports to include: (1) aggregate expenditures on the program; (2) a list of each payment made to a participating telecommunications carrier for the provision of service through the program, including, in the case of a participating carrier that is reimbursed for the provision of service to both wireless and wireline subscribers, the amount of the payment that corresponds to each type of service; and (3) the average cost per subscriber, across all the participating carriers, to provide the service that the program subsidizes, broken down by wireless and wireline subscribers and averaged per subscriber.
Topic: Technology — Telecommunications
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2015-06-25 00:00:00

Quell Unnecessary, Intentional, and Encroaching Telephone Calls Act of 2014 or the QUIET Act 

This bill amends the federal criminal code to make it a crime to knowingly initiate a commercial robocall, without the prior written consent of the recipient, from within the United States or to a recipient within the United States. The prohibition does not apply to emergency or health-related calls or calls from charitable organizations.

The bill defines "commercial robocall" as a telephone call made using an automatic dialing system or artificial or prerecorded voice to solicit or encourage the purchase of property, goods, or services.

Violators are subject to fines up to $20,000 per violation and/or up to 10 years in prison.
Topic: Technology — Telecommunications
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Date: 2015-06-25 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015

(Sec. 3) This bill directs the Federal Communications Commission to amend regulations concerning the height and dimensions of station antenna structures to prohibit a private land use restriction from applying to amateur service communications if the restriction precludes such communications, fails to accommodate such communications, or does not constitute the minimum practicable restriction to accomplish the legitimate purpose of the private entity seeking to enforce the restriction.
Topic: Technology — Telecommunications
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Date: 2015-07-14 00:00:00

Phone Scam Prevention Act of 2015

Requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to publish on its website a report that identifies existing technologies that consumers can use to protect against misleading or inaccurate caller identification information.

Requires the FCC, within one year after enactment of this Act, to submit to Congress a report detailing a plan to expeditiously develop, within six years after submission of such report, reasonable authentication standards for voice service providers to validate caller information so that subscribers may obtain secure assurances of a call's origin, including the calling party's number and identification.

Extends the prohibition on the provision of inaccurate caller identification information to persons outside the United States if the recipient is within the United States.

Expands the definition of "caller identification information" to include text messages.

Revises caller identification requirements to make standards applicable to voice communications using resources from the North American Numbering Plan (currently, the requirements apply to telecommunications or IP-enabled voice services).
Topic: Technology — Telecommunications
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Date: 2015-10-27 00:00:00

Spectrum Relocation Fund Act of 2015

This bill amends the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act to make amounts available from the Spectrum Relocation Fund (SRF) for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to pay federal entities for research and development activities to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their use of electromagnetic spectrum under government station licenses in order to make frequencies available for: (1) reallocation for nonfederal use, shared federal and nonfederal use, or a combination of such uses; and (2) auctions in accordance with such reallocation.

As a condition to the OMB paying a federal entity for such activities, the federal entity must have a plan: (1) approved by a technical panel within the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and (2) submitted by the OMB to the appropriate congressional committees for a period of 60 days.

The bill also provides for incumbent federal entities to receive payment from the SRF for relocation and sharing costs incurred to accommodate sharing spectrum frequencies assigned to such entity with another federal entity the operations of which are being relocated from other frequencies.
Topic: Technology — Telecommunications
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Date: 2015-11-03 00:00:00

Private Spectrum Relocation Funding Act of 2015 

 

This bill amends the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act to allow a federal entity to receive payment or reimbursement from a private entity to accelerate implementation of a transition plan deemed sufficient by a technical panel within the National Telecommunications and Information Administration for federally used frequencies of electromagnetic spectrum to be relocated or shared to make spectrum available for auction or for other commercial or nonfederal use.

 

To collect or receive such a payment or reimbursement, the technical panel must approve a federal entity's proposal with a finding that: (1) the activities funded by the payment are reasonably likely to materially accelerate implementation of the transition plan or commercial or other nonfederal use of spectrum subject to such plan, and (2) such implementation or use would not be achieved without the private entity's payment.
Topic: Technology — Telecommunications
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Date: 2016-02-11 00:00:00

Kari's Law Act of 2016



This bill amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require multi-line telephone systems to have a default configuration that allows users to directly initiate a call to 9-1-1 (without dialing any additional digit, code, prefix, or post-fix, including any trunk-access code such as the digit "9") from any station equipped with dialing facilities.

Businesses installing such systems must configure the systems to provide a notification to a central location at the facility where the system is installed when a person at the facility initiates a call to 9-1-1 using the system, provided that the system is able to be so configured without an improvement to the hardware.
Topic: Technology — Telecommunications
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Date: 2016-02-22 00:00:00

Spoofing Prevention Act of 2016

This bill amends the Communications Act of 1934 to expand the prohibition against knowingly transmitting misleading or inaccurate caller identification information to apply to: (1) persons outside the United States if the recipient of the call is within the United States, and (2) text messages. Existing caller identification requirements that apply to calls made using a telecommunications service or IP-enabled voice service are revised to apply to voice communications using resources from the North American Numbering Plan.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) must publish on its website a report that identifies existing technologies that consumers can use to protect against misleading or inaccurate caller identification information.

The Government Accountability Office must report on: (1) actions taken, or actions that could be taken, by the FCC or the Federal Trade Commission to combat the fraudulent provision of misleading or inaccurate caller identification information; and (2) any recommendations to combat the fraudulent provision of such information.
Topic: Technology — Telecommunications
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2016-04-11 00:00:00

Kelsey Smith Act

This bill amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require a mobile or Internet voice service provider to disclose, at the request of an investigative or law enforcement officer, the call location information of a device that is: (1) used to place a 911 call, or (2) reasonably believed to be in the possession of an individual who is in an emergency situation that involves a risk of death or serious physical harm.

Additionally, the bill prohibits a civil action or administrative proceeding against a telecommunications carrier who discloses call location information in good faith in accordance with this bill.