[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 664 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 664

To ensure the competitive availability of consumer electronics devices 
 affording access to telecommunications system services, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

               April 4 (legislative day, March 27), 1995

   Mr. Cohen introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To ensure the competitive availability of consumer electronics devices 
 affording access to telecommunications system services, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Competitive Consumer Electronics 
Availability Act of 1995''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) with the convergence of communications, computing, and 
        video technology, consumers may now achieve access to a broad 
        array of video, voice, and data services provided by telephone, 
        wireless, cable television, and other telecommunications 
        systems;
            (2) when devices for achieving access to telecommunications 
        systems have been available directly to consumers on a 
        competitive basis, consumers have enjoyed expanded choice, 
        lower prices, and increased innovation;
            (3) promotion of competition whenever reasonably possible 
        should be an important objective for all agencies and 
        commissions of the Federal Government; and
            (4) while recognizing the legitimate interest of operators 
        of telecommunications systems in ensuring the delivery of 
        certain services to authorized recipients only, devices for 
        access to such systems should be available to consumers on a 
        competitive basis.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act, the following terms have the following 
meanings:
            (1) The term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
        Communications Commission.
            (2) The term ``telecommunications'' means the transmission 
        between or among points specified by the subscriber, of 
        information of the subscriber's choosing, without change in the 
        form or content of the information as sent and received, by 
        means of electromagnetic transmission, with or without benefit 
        of any closed transmission medium, including all 
        instrumentalities, facilities, apparatus, and services 
        (including the receipt, switching, and delivery of such 
        information) essential to such transmission.
            (3) The term ``telecommunications service'' means the 
        provision directly to subscribers of video, voice, or data 
        services for which a subscriber charge is made.
            (4) The term ``telecommunications system'' or 
        ``telecommunications system operator'' means a provider of 
        telecommunications service.

SEC. 4. COMPETITIVE CONSUMER AVAILABILITY OF CUSTOMER PREMISES 
              EQUIPMENT.

    The Commission shall adopt regulations to assure competitive 
availability, to consumers of telecommunications services, of converter 
boxes, interactive communications devices, and other customer premises 
equipment from manufacturers, retailers, and other vendors not 
affiliated with any telecommunications system operator. Such 
regulations shall not prohibit any telecommunications system operator 
from also offering devices and customer premises equipment to 
consumers, provided that the system operator's charges to consumers for 
such devices and equipment are separately stated and not bundled with 
or subsidized by charges for any telecommunications service.

SEC. 5. WAIVER FOR NEW NETWORK SERVICES.

    The Commission may waive a regulation adopted pursuant to section 4 
for a limited time upon an appropriate showing by a telecommunications 
system operator that such waiver is necessary to the introduction of a 
new telecommunications service.
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