[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1685 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1685

To provide for the recognition of electronic signatures for the conduct 
  of interstate and foreign commerce, to restrict the transmission of 
certain electronic mail advertisements, to authorize the Federal Trade 
   Commission to prescribe rules to protect the privacy of users of 
   commercial Internet websites, to promote the rapid deployment of 
          broadband Internet services, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 5, 1999

 Mr. Boucher (for himself and Mr. Goodlatte) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, and in addition 
  to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide for the recognition of electronic signatures for the conduct 
  of interstate and foreign commerce, to restrict the transmission of 
certain electronic mail advertisements, to authorize the Federal Trade 
   Commission to prescribe rules to protect the privacy of users of 
   commercial Internet websites, to promote the rapid deployment of 
          broadband Internet 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 ``Internet Growth and Development Act 
of 1999''.

      TITLE I--AUTHORIZATION OF ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES IN COMMERCE

SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this title, the following definitions shall apply:
            (1) Electronic commerce.--The term ``electronic commerce'' 
        means the transaction or conduct of any business that is in or 
        that affects interstate or foreign commerce and that is in 
        whole or part transacted or conducted by electronic means.
            (2) Electronic means.--The term ``electronic means'' 
        includes all forms of electronic communication mediated by 
        computer, including telephonic communications, facsimile, 
        electronic mail, electronic data exchanges, satellite, cable, 
        and fiber optic communications.
            (3) Electronic authentication.--The term ``electronic 
        authentication'' means any methodology, technology, or 
        technique intended to--
                    (A) establish the identity of the maker, sender, or 
                originator of a document or communication in electronic 
                commerce; and
                    (B) establish the fact that the document or 
                communication has not been altered.
            (4) Electronic signature.--The term ``electronic 
        signature'' means any electronic symbol or series of symbols, 
        created, or processed by a computer, intended by the party 
        using it (or authorizing its use) to have the same legal force 
        and effect as a manual signature.

SEC. 102. VALIDITY OF ELECTRONIC AUTHENTICATION.

    (a) Validity of Electronic Signatures.--All electronic signatures 
that have been authenticated through the use of a means of electronic 
authentication that complies with subsection (d) shall have standing 
equal to paper-based, written signatures, so that--
            (1) any rule of law which requires a record to be in 
        writing shall be deemed satisfied; and
            (2) any rule of law which requires a signature shall be 
        deemed satisfied.
    (b) Validity of Electronic Records.--Electronic records shall not 
be denied legal effect, validity, or enforceability solely because such 
records are in electronic form.
    (c) Validity of State Laws.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to preempt the law of a State that enacts legislation 
governing electronic transactions that is consistent with subsections 
(a) and (b).
    (d) Means of Electronic Authentication.--
            (1) In general.--For purposes of this title, a means of 
        electronic authentication complies with the requirements of 
        this section if it--
                    (A) reliably establishes the identity of the maker, 
                sender, or originator of a document or communication in 
                electronic commerce; and
                    (B) reliably establishes the fact that the document 
                or communication has not been altered.
            (2) Methods of proof.--A person may demonstrate compliance 
        with the requirements of paragraph (1) by demonstrating that a 
        means of electronic authentication--
                    (A) uses an identification methodology that is 
                unique to the person making, sending, originating a 
                document or communication;
                    (B) the identification methodology shall be capable 
                of verifying the identity of such person; and
                    (C) the identification methodology is linked to the 
                data or communication transmitted in such a manner that 
                if such data or communication has been altered, the 
                authentication becomes invalid.

                TITLE II--ELECTRONIC MAIL ADVERTISEMENTS

SEC. 201. UNSOLICITED ELECTRONIC MAIL ADVERTISEMENTS.

    Title VII of the Communications Act of 1934 is amended by adding at 
the end the following section:

``SEC. 715. UNSOLICITED ELECTRONIC MAIL ADVERTISEMENTS.

    ``(a) Compliance of Registered Users With Provider Policy 
Required.--No registered user of an electronic mail service provider 
shall use or cause to be used that electronic mail service provider's 
equipment in violation of that electronic mail service provider's 
policy prohibiting or restricting the use of its service or equipment 
for the initiation of unsolicited electronic mail advertisements.
    ``(b) Compliance by Senders With Provider Policy Required.--No 
person or other entity shall use or cause to be used, by initiating an 
unsolicited electronic mail advertisement, an electronic mail service 
provider's equipment in violation of that electronic mail service 
provider's policy prohibiting or restricting the use of its equipment 
to deliver unsolicited electronic mail advertisements to its registered 
users.
    ``(c) Provider Policies Not Required.--An electronic mail service 
provider shall not be required to create a policy prohibiting or 
restricting the use of its equipment for the initiation or delivery of 
unsolicited electronic mail advertisements.
    ``(d) Continued Protection From Being Treated as Publisher.--
Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit or restrict the 
rights of an electronic mail service provider under section 230(c)(1) 
of this Act, or any decision of an electronic mail service provider to 
permit or to restrict access to or use of its system, or any exercise 
of its editorial function.
    ``(e) Remedies.--
            ``(1) Private actions by providers.--In addition to any 
        other remedy available under law, any electronic mail service 
        provider whose policy on unsolicited electronic mail 
        advertisements is violated as provided in this section may 
        bring a civil action to recover the actual monetary loss 
        suffered by that provider by reason of that violation, or 
        liquidated damages of $50 for each electronic mail message 
        initiated or delivered in violation of this section, up to a 
        maximum of $25,000 per day, whichever amount is greater.
            ``(2) Attorney fees.--In any action brought pursuant to 
        paragraph (1), the court may award reasonable attorney's fees 
        to a prevailing party.
            ``(3) Notice of policy required.--In any action brought 
        pursuant to paragraph (1), the electronic mail service provider 
        shall be required to establish as an element of its cause of 
        action that prior to the alleged violation, the defendant had 
        actual notice of both of the following:
                    ``(A) The electronic mail service provider's policy 
                on unsolicited electronic mail advertising and
                    ``(B) The fact that the defendant's unsolicited 
                electronic mail advertisements would use or cause to be 
                used the electronic mail service provider's equipment.
    ``(f) Definitions.--As used in this section:
            ``(1) Electronic mail advertisement.--The term `electronic 
        mail advertisement' means any electronic mail message, the 
        principal purpose of which is to promote, directly or 
        indirectly, the sale or other commercial distribution of goods 
        or services to the recipient.
            ``(2) Unsolicited electronic mail advertisement.--The term 
        `unsolicited electronic mail advertisement' means any 
        electronic mail advertisement that meets both of the following 
        requirements:
                    ``(A) It is addressed to a recipient with whom the 
                initiator does not have an existing business or 
                personal relationship.
                    ``(B) It is not sent at the request of or with the 
                express consent of the recipient.
            ``(3) Electronic mail service provider.--The term 
        `electronic mail service provider' means any person or other 
        entity that provides registered users the ability to send or 
        receive electronic mail and that is an intermediary in sending 
        or receiving electronic mail.
            ``(4) Initiation.--The term `initiation' of an unsolicited 
        electronic mail advertisement refers to the action by the 
        initial sender of the electronic mail advertisement. It does 
        not refer to the actions of any intervening electronic mail 
        service provider that may handle or retransmit the electronic 
        message.
            ``(5) Registered user.--The term `registered user' means 
        any person or other entity that maintains an electronic mail 
        address with an electronic mail service provider.''.

                  TITLE III--ONLINE PRIVACY PROTECTION

SEC. 301. ONLINE PRIVACY PROTECTION.

    (a) Information Collection Regulations.--Any person operating a 
commercial Internet website shall clearly and conspicuously provide 
notice of its collection, use, and disclosure policies with regard to 
personally identifiable information, including--
            (1) the personally identifiable information that the 
        website operator collects from individuals visiting the 
        website; and
            (2) the uses that the website operator makes of the 
        personally identifiable information, including whether the 
        operator makes the information available to any third parties.
    (b) Enforcement.--Any knowing violation of the requirements under 
subsection (a) shall be treated as an unfair or deceptive act or 
practice under section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 
45).

                     TITLE IV--BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT

 SEC. 401. ACCELERATED DEPLOYMENT OF INTERNET BACKBONE.

    (a) InterLATA Internet Services.--Paragraph (21) of section 3 of 
the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153(21)), relating to the 
definition of interLATA service, is amended by inserting before the 
period the following: ``, except that such term shall not include 
services that consist of or include the transmission of any data or 
information, including any writing, signs, signals, pictures, or sounds 
related to the transmission of such data or information, by means of 
the Internet or any other network that employs Internet Protocol-based 
or other packet-switched technology''.
    (b) Voice InterLATA Internet Services.--Neither a Bell operating 
company, nor any affiliate of a Bell operating company, may provide, by 
means of the Internet or any other network that employs Internet 
Protocol-based or other packet-switched technology, two-way voice-only 
interLATA telecommunications services originating in any of its in-
region States until such time as the Federal Communications Commission 
approves the application of such company for such State pursuant to 
section 271(d) of the Communications Act of 1934. The terms in this 
subsection shall have the same respective meanings given such terms in 
sections 3 and 271 of such Act.

SEC. 402. ACCELERATED DEPLOYMENT OF BROADBAND SERVICES.

    Title VII of the Communications Act of 1934 is further amended by 
adding at the end thereof the following new section:

``SEC. 716. ACCELERATED DEPLOYMENT OF BROADBAND SERVICES.

    ``(a) Broadband Services Plans.--
            ``(1) Plan required.--Within 180 days after the effective 
        date of this section, each local exchange carrier shall submit 
        to the State commission in each State in which such carrier 
        does business a plan to provide broadband telecommunications 
        service in all local exchange areas in which such carrier has 
        telephone exchange service customers as soon as such broadband 
        telecommunications service is economically reasonably and 
        technically feasible. The plan shall include all terms and 
        conditions, including pricing, under which the services shall 
        be provided. The test of economic reasonability and technical 
        feasibility shall be made separately by the local exchange 
        carrier for each local exchange, and the plan shall be 
        considered certified 45 days after submission unless the State 
        commission rejects the plan within such 45 days. Upon rejection 
        of a plan, successive plans shall be submitted until approval 
        is obtained. The plan shall be implemented within 180 days of 
        the certification of the plan in each local exchange in which 
        the provision of the service is both economically reasonable 
        and technically feasible. Upon certification of its plan, the 
        carrier shall be obligated by terms of the plan (including any 
        modifications that it requests that are thereafter certified) 
        but shall otherwise provide such services free of Federal and 
        State price, rate, rate of return, and profit regulation. Upon 
        a determination by the State commission that a local exchange 
        is served by another provider of broadband telecommunications 
        services, or any broadband Internet access transport provider, 
        or upon a determination by such State commission that the local 
        exchange carrier makes broadband telecommunications services 
        available to 70 percent of the access lines in an exchange, a 
        local exchange carrier shall no longer be obligated by the 
        terms of any such plan in such local exchange.
            ``(2) State modifications prohibited.--Except upon request 
        of the carrier, the State commission shall have no authority to 
        modify any plan submitted pursuant to paragraph (1).
            ``(3) No commission authority.--The Commission shall have 
        no authority with respect to the terms of any plan and shall 
        have no authority with respect to the approval or rejection of 
        any such plan.
    ``(b) Supersession of Other Requirements.--An incumbent local 
exchange carrier's provision of broadband local telecommunications 
services shall not be subject to the requirements of sections 251(c)(3) 
and 251(c)(4) of the Act in any State in which that carrier certifies 
to the State commission that--
            ``(1) in central offices in which it provides local loops 
        that are conditioned for broadband services, it provides such 
        loops to other carriers at least as quickly as it provides them 
        for its own customers;
            ``(2) in central offices in which it does not currently 
        provide local loops that are conditioned for broadband 
        services, but in which such service is economically reasonable 
        and technically feasible, it will provide such loops within 120 
        days of a request for such conditioning from another carrier; 
        and
            ``(3) conditioned loops are provided upon such prices and 
        other terms and conditions as the parties shall agree, or in 
        any event of disagreements, as are determined through 
        commercial arbitration, in which the commercial arbitrator 
        shall establish the price based upon the cost of the loops and 
        the costs for such conditioning that have been incurred by the 
local exchange carrier plus a reasonable profit.''.

               TITLE V--ANTITRUST AND CRIMINAL PROVISIONS

SEC. 501. PROHIBITION ON ANTICOMPETITIVE BEHAVIOR BY INCUMBENT LOCAL 
              EXCHANGE CARRIERS.

    In any civil action based on a claim arising under section 1, 2, or 
3 of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. 1, 2, 3), evidence that an incumbent 
local exchange carrier that has market power in the broadband service 
provider market has willfully and knowingly failed to provide 
conditioned unbundled local loops when economically reasonable and 
technically feasible under section 716(a) of the Communications Act of 
1934, or restrains unreasonably the ability of a carrier to compete in 
its provision of broadband services over a local loop, shall be 
sufficient to establish a presumption of a violation of such section 1, 
2, or 3 of the Sherman Act.

SEC. 502. PROHIBITION ON ANTICOMPETITIVE CONTRACTS BY BROADBAND ACCESS 
              TRANSPORT PROVIDERS.

    In any civil action based on a claim arising under section 1, 2, or 
3 of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. 1, 2, 3), evidence that a broadband 
access transport provider that has market power in the broadband 
service provider market has offered access to a service provider on 
terms and conditions, other than terms justified by demonstrable cost 
differentials, that are less favorable than those offered by such 
operator to itself, to an affiliated service provider, or to another 
service provider, or restrains unreasonably the ability of a service 
provider from competing in its provision of broadband services, shall 
be sufficient to establish a presumption of a violation of such 
section.

SEC. 503. PROHIBITION ON ANTICOMPETITIVE OR DISCRIMINATORY BEHAVIOR BY 
              BROADBAND ACCESS TRANSPORT PROVIDERS.

    It shall be unlawful for a broadband access transport provider to 
engage in unfair methods of competition or unfair or deceptive acts or 
practices, the purpose or effect of which is to discriminate in favor 
of a service provider that is affiliated with a broadband access 
transport provider or to restrain unreasonably the ability of a service 
provider that is not affiliated with a broadband access transport 
provider from competing in its provision of any of the services 
provided by a service provider as set forth in section 505(3).

SEC. 504. PROTECTION FROM FRAUDULENT UNSOLICITED E-MAIL.

    Section 1030 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(5)--
                    (A) by striking ``or'' at the end of subparagraph 
                (B); and
                    (B) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the 
                following new subparagraphs:
            ``(D) intentionally and without authorization initiates the 
        transmission of a bulk unsolicited electronic mail message to a 
        protected computer with knowledge that such message falsifies 
        an Internet domain, header information, date or time stamp, 
        originating e-mail address or other identifier; or
            ``(E) intentionally sells or distributes any computer 
        program that--
                    ``(i) is designed or produced primarily for the 
                purpose of concealing the source or routing information 
                of bulk unsolicited electronic mail messages in a 
                manner prohibited by subparagraph (D) of this 
                paragraph;
                    ``(ii) has only limited commercially significant 
                purpose or use other than to conceal such source or 
                routing information; or
                    ``(iii) is marketed by the violator or another 
                person acting in concert with the violator and with the 
                violator's knowledge for use in concealing the source 
                or routing information of such messages;'';
            (2) in subsection (c)(2)(A)--
                    (A) by inserting ``(i)'' after ``in the case of an 
                offense''; and
                    (B) by inserting after ``an offense punishable 
                under this subparagraph;'' the following: ``; or (ii) 
                under subsection (a)(5)(D) or (a)(5)(E) of this section 
                which results in damage to a protected computer'';
            (3) in subsection (c)(2), by adding at the end the 
        following new subparagraph:
            ``(D) in the case of a violation of subsection (a)(5)(D) or 
        (E), actual monetary loss and statutory damages of $15,000 per 
        violation or an amount of up to $10 per message per violation 
        whichever is greater; and'';
            (4) in subsection (e)--
                    (A) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph 
                (8);
                    (B) by striking the period at the end of paragraph 
                (9); and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraphs:
            ``(10) the term `initiates the transmission' means, in the 
        case of an electronic mail message, to originate the electronic 
        mail message, and excludes the actions of any interactive 
        computer service whose facilities or services are used by 
        another person to transmit, relay, or otherwise handle such 
        message;
            ``(11) the term `Internet domain' means a specific computer 
        system (commonly referred to as a `host') or collection of 
        computer systems attached to or able to be referenced from the 
        Internet which are assigned a specific reference point on the 
        Internet (commonly referred to as an `Internet domain name') 
        and registered with an organization recognized by the Internet 
        industry as a registrant of Internet domains;
            ``(12) the term `unsolicited electronic mail message' means 
        any substantially identical electronic mail message other than 
        electronic mail initiated by any purpose to others with whom 
        such person has a prior relationship, including prior business 
        relationship, or electronic mail sent by a source to recipients 
        where such recipients, or their designees, have at any time 
        affirmatively requested to receive communications from that 
        source; and
            ``(13) the term `Internet' means all computer and 
        telecommunications facilities, including equipment and 
        operating software, which comprise the interconnected network 
        of networks that employ the Transmission Control Protocol/
        Internet Protocol, or any predecessor or successor protocols to 
        such protocol, to communicate information of all kinds by wire 
        or radio.''.
            (5) in subsection (g), by inserting ``and reasonable 
        attorneys' fees and other litigation costs reasonably incurred 
        in connection with civil action'' after ``injunctive relief or 
        other equitable relief''.

SEC. 505. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this title:
            (1) Broadband.--The term ``broadband'' refers to a 
        transmission capability in excess of 200 kilobits per second in 
        at least one direction.
            (2) Broadband access transport provider.--The term 
        ``broadband access transport provider'' means one who engages 
        in the broadband transmission of data between a user and his 
        service provider's point of interconnection with the broadband 
        access transport provider's facilities. Such term shall also 
        include a service provider who provides to itself, over 
        facilities owned by it or under its control, the broadband 
        transport of services between itself and its users.
            (3) Service provider.--The term ``service provider'' means 
        a person who provides a service that enables users to access 
        content, information, electronic mail, or other services. The 
        term may also include access to proprietary content, 
        information, and other services as part of a package of 
        services offered to consumers.
            (4) Internet.--The term ``Internet'' means all computer and 
        telecommunications facilities, including equipment and 
        operating software, which comprise the interconnected network 
        of networks that employ the Transmission Control Protocol/
        Internet Protocol, or any predecessor or successor protocols to 
        such protocol, to communicate information of all kinds by wire 
        or radio.
            (5) Broadband service provider market.--The term 
        ``broadband service provider market'' includes the provision of 
        broadband services over a single broadband access transport 
        provider's facilities.
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