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.

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- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:23 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1101.IH H1101 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1101 IH SECTION 1. INTERNET OPENNESS. 1 Title I of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 2 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 3 following: 4 ‘‘SEC. 14. INTERNET OPENNESS. 5 ‘‘(a) OBLIGATIONS OF BROADBAND INTERNET AC- 6 CESS SERVICE PROVIDERS.—A person engaged in the pro- 7 vision of broadband internet access service, insofar as such 8 person is so engaged— 9 ‘‘(1) may not block lawful content, applications, 10 or services, subject to reasonable network manage- 11 ment; 12 ‘‘(2) may not prohibit the use of non-harmful 13 devices, subject to reasonable network management; 14 ‘‘(3) may not throttle lawful traffic by selec- 15 tively slowing, speeding, degrading, or enhancing 16 internet traffic based on source, destination, or con- 17 tent, subject to reasonable network management; 18 ‘‘(4) may not engage in paid prioritization; and 19 ‘‘(5) shall publicly disclose accurate and rel- 20 evant information in plain language regarding the 21 network management practices, performance, and 22 commercial terms of its broadband internet access 23 services sufficient for consumers to make informed 24 choices regarding use of such services and for con- 25 tent, application, service, and device providers to de- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:23 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1101.IH H1101 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1101 IH velop, market, and maintain internet offerings, ex- 1 cept that a provider is not required to publicly dis- 2 close competitively sensitive information or informa- 3 tion that could compromise network security or un- 4 dermine the efficacy of reasonable network manage- 5 ment practices. 6 ‘‘(b) COMMISSION AUTHORITY.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall en- 8 force the obligations established in subsection (a) 9 through adjudication of complaints alleging viola- 10 tions of such subsection but may not expand the 11 internet openness obligations for provision of 12 broadband internet access service beyond the obliga- 13 tions established in such subsection, whether by 14 rulemaking or otherwise. 15 ‘‘(2) FORMAL COMPLAINT PROCEDURES.—Not 16 later than 60 days after the date of the enactment 17 of this section, the Commission shall adopt formal 18 complaint procedures to address alleged violations of 19 subsection (a). 20 ‘‘(c) OTHER LAWS AND CONSIDERATIONS.—Nothing 21 in this section— 22 ‘‘(1) supersedes any obligation or authorization 23 a provider of broadband internet access service may 24 have to address the needs of emergency communica- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:23 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1101.IH H1101 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1101 IH tions or law enforcement, public safety, or national 1 security authorities, consistent with or as permitted 2 by applicable law, or limits the provider’s ability to 3 do so; or 4 ‘‘(2) prohibits reasonable efforts by a provider 5 of broadband internet access service to address copy- 6 right infringement or other unlawful activity. 7 ‘‘(d) CONSUMER CHOICE.— 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this section 9 shall be construed to limit consumers’ choice of serv- 10 ice plans or consumers’ control over their chosen 11 broadband internet access service or, except as pro- 12 vided in paragraph (2), the ability of broadband 13 internet access service providers to offer specialized 14 services. 15 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN PRACTICES RE- 16 GARDING SPECIALIZED SERVICES.—Specialized serv- 17 ices may not be offered or provided in ways that 18 threaten the meaningful availability of broadband 19 internet access service or that have been devised or 20 promoted in a manner designed to evade the pur- 21 poses of this section. 22 ‘‘(e) BROADBAND TO BE CONSIDERED INFORMATION 23 SERVICE.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 24 the provision of broadband internet access service or any 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:23 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1101.IH H1101 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1101 IH other mass-market retail service providing advanced tele- 1 communications capability (as defined in section 706 of 2 the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302)) 3 shall be considered to be an information service. 4 ‘‘(f) REASONABLE NETWORK MANAGEMENT.—For 5 purposes of subsection (a), a network management prac- 6 tice is reasonable if it is appropriate and tailored to achiev- 7 ing a legitimate network management purpose, taking into 8 account the particular network architecture and any tech- 9 nology and operational limitations of the broadband inter- 10 net access service provider. 11 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 12 ‘‘(1) BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS SERV- 13 ICE.— 14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘broadband 15 internet access service’ means a mass-market 16 retail service by wire or radio that provides the 17 capability to transmit data to and receive data 18 from all or substantially all internet endpoints, 19 including any capabilities that are incidental to 20 and enable the operation of the communications 21 service, but excluding dial-up internet access 22 service. 23 ‘‘(B) FUNCTIONAL EQUIVALENT; EVA- 24 SION.—The term includes any service that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:23 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1101.IH H1101 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1101 IH ‘‘(i) the Commission finds to be pro- 1 viding a functional equivalent of the service 2 described in subparagraph (A); or 3 ‘‘(ii) is used to evade the protections 4 set forth in subsection (a). 5 ‘‘(2) PAID PRIORITIZATION.—The term ‘paid 6 prioritization’ means the speeding up or slowing 7 down of some internet traffic in relation to other 8 internet traffic over the consumer’s broadband inter- 9 net access service by prioritizing or deprioritizing 10 packets based on compensation or lack thereof by 11 the sender to the broadband internet access service 12 provider. 13 ‘‘(3) SPECIALIZED SERVICES.—The term ‘spe- 14 cialized services’ means services other than 15 broadband internet access service that are offered 16 over the same network as, and that may share net- 17 work capacity with, broadband internet access serv- 18 ice.’’. 19 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY UNDER SECTION 706 OF THE TELE- 20 COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1996. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 706 of the Telecommuni- 22 cations Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302) is amended— 23 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub- 24 section (e); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:23 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1101.IH H1101 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1101 IH (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘(d) NO GRANT OF AUTHORITY.—The Commission 3 or a State commission with regulatory jurisdiction over 4 telecommunications services may not rely on this section 5 as a grant of authority.’’. 6 (b) TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.—Section 706 of the 7 Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302) is fur- 8 ther amended— 9 (1) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘(as defined’’ 10 and all that follows through ‘‘note))’’; and 11 (2) in subsection (e), as redesignated, in the 12 matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘sub- 13 section’’ and inserting ‘‘section’’. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:23 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1101.IH H1101 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS