Promoting Internet Freedom and Innovation Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1096 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for open internet requirements for providers of broadband internet access service. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 7, 2019 Mrs. RODGERS of Washington introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for open internet requirements for providers of broadband internet access service. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Promoting Internet 4 Freedom and Innovation Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. OPEN INTERNET REQUIREMENTS. 6 Title I of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 7 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 8 following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:26 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1096.IH H1096 amozie on DSK9F9SC42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1096 IH ‘‘SEC. 14. OPEN INTERNET REQUIREMENTS. 1 ‘‘(a) TRANSPARENCY.—Any person providing 2 broadband internet access service shall publicly disclose 3 accurate information regarding the network management 4 practices, performance characteristics, and commercial 5 terms of its broadband internet access services sufficient 6 to enable consumers to make informed choices regarding 7 the purchase and use of such services and entrepreneurs 8 and other small businesses to develop, market, and main- 9 tain internet offerings. The disclosure shall be made via 10 a publicly available, easily accessible website. 11 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON BLOCKING, IMPAIRMENT AND 12 DEGRADATION, AND PAID PRIORITIZATION.—A person 13 engaged in the provision of broadband internet access 14 service, insofar as the person is so engaged, may not— 15 ‘‘(1) block lawful content, applications, services, 16 or nonharmful devices, subject to reasonable network 17 management; 18 ‘‘(2) impair or degrade lawful internet traffic 19 on the basis of internet content, application, or serv- 20 ice, or use of a nonharmful device, subject to reason- 21 able network management; or 22 ‘‘(3) engage in paid prioritization. 23 ‘‘(c) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section— 24 ‘‘(1) supersedes any obligation or authorization 25 a provider of broadband internet access service may 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1096.IH H1096 amozie on DSK9F9SC42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1096 IH have to address the needs of emergency communica- 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 copy- 7 right infringement or other unlawful activity. 8 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 9 ‘‘(1) BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS SERV- 10 ICE.— 11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘broadband 12 internet access service’ means a mass-market 13 retail service by wire or radio that provides the 14 capability to transmit data to and receive data 15 from all or substantially all internet endpoints, 16 including any capabilities that are incidental to 17 and enable the operation of the communications 18 service, but excluding dial-up internet access 19 service. 20 ‘‘(B) FUNCTIONAL EQUIVALENT; EVA- 21 SION.—The term includes any service that— 22 ‘‘(i) the Commission finds to be pro- 23 viding a functional equivalent of the service 24 described in subparagraph (A); or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1096.IH H1096 amozie on DSK9F9SC42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1096 IH ‘‘(ii) is used to evade the protections 1 set forth in this section. 2 ‘‘(2) EDGE PROVIDER.—The term ‘edge pro- 3 vider’ means any individual or entity that provides 4 any content, application, or service over the internet, 5 and any individual or entity that provides a device 6 used for accessing any content, application, or serv- 7 ice over the internet. 8 ‘‘(3) END USER.—The term ‘end user’ means 9 any individual or entity that uses a broadband inter- 10 net access service. 11 ‘‘(4) PAID PRIORITIZATION.—The term ‘paid 12 prioritization’ means the management of a 13 broadband provider’s network to directly or indi- 14 rectly favor some traffic over other traffic, including 15 through the use of techniques such as traffic shap- 16 ing, prioritization, resource reservation, or other 17 forms of preferential traffic management, either— 18 ‘‘(A) in exchange for consideration, mone- 19 tary or otherwise, from a third party; or 20 ‘‘(B) to benefit an affiliated entity. 21 ‘‘(5) REASONABLE NETWORK MANAGEMENT.— 22 The term ‘reasonable network management’ means a 23 practice that has a primarily technical network man- 24 agement justification, but does not include other 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1096.IH H1096 amozie on DSK9F9SC42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1096 IH business practices. A network management practice 1 is reasonable if it is primarily used for and tailored 2 to achieving a legitimate network management pur- 3 pose, taking into account the particular network ar- 4 chitecture and technology of the broadband internet 5 access service.’’. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1096.IH H1096 amozie on DSK9F9SC42PROD with BILLS