[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3458 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3458
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to establish a national
broadband policy, safeguard consumer rights, spur investment and
innovation, and for related purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 31, 2009
Mr. Markey of Massachusetts (for himself and Ms. Eshoo) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and
Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to establish a national
broadband policy, safeguard consumer rights, spur investment and
innovation, and for related 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 Freedom Preservation Act of
2009''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Our Nation's economy and society are increasingly
dependent on Internet services.
(2) The Internet is an essential infrastructure that is
comparable to roads and electricity in its support for a
diverse array of economic, social, and political activity.
(3) Internet technologies and services hold the promise of
advancing economic growth, fostering investment, creating jobs,
and spurring technological innovation.
(4) As the Nation becomes more reliant upon such Internet
technologies and services, unfettered access to the Internet to
offer, access, and utilize content, services, and applications
is vital.
(5) The global leadership in high technology that the
United States provides today stems directly from historic
policies that embraced competition and openness and that have
ensured that telecommunications networks are open to all lawful
uses by all users.
(6) The Internet was enabled by those historic policies and
provides an open architecture medium for worldwide
communications, providing a low barrier to entry for Internet-
based content, applications, and services.
(7) Due to legal and marketplace changes, these features of
the Internet are no longer certain, and erosion of these
historic policies permits telecommunications network operators
to control who can and who cannot offer content, services, and
applications over the Internet utilizing such networks.
(8) The national economy would be severely harmed if the
ability of Internet content, service, and application providers
to reach consumers was frustrated by interference from
broadband telecommunications network operators.
(9) The overwhelming majority of residential consumers
subscribe to Internet access service from 1 of only 2 wireline
providers: the cable operator or the telephone company.
(10) Internet access service providers have an economic
interest to discriminate in favor of their own services,
content, and applications and against other providers.
(11) A network neutrality policy based upon the principle
of nondiscrimination and consistent with the history of the
Internet's development is essential to ensure that Internet
services remain open to all consumers, entrepreneurs,
innovators, and providers of lawful content, services, and
applications.
(12) A network neutrality policy is also essential to give
certainty to small businesses, leading global companies,
investors, and others who rely upon the Internet for commercial
reasons.
(13) A network neutrality policy can also permit Internet
service providers to take action to protect network
reliability, prevent unwanted electronic mail, and thwart
illegal uses in the same way that telecommunications network
operators have historically done consistent with the
overarching principle of non-discrimination.
(14) Because of the essential role of Internet services to
the economic growth of the United States, to meet other
national priorities, and to our right to free speech under the
First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, the
United States should adopt a clear policy preserving the open
nature of Internet communications and networks.
SEC. 3. INTERNET FREEDOM.
Title I of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.)
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 12. INTERNET FREEDOM.
``(a) Internet Freedom Policy.--It is the policy of the United
States--
``(1) to protect the right of consumers to access lawful
content, run lawful applications, and use lawful services of
their choice on the Internet;
``(2) to preserve and promote the open and interconnected
nature of broadband networks and to enable consumers to connect
to such networks their choice of lawful devices, as long as
such devices do not harm the network;
``(3) to promote consumer choice and competition among
providers of lawful content, applications, and services;
``(4) to ensure that consumers receive meaningful
information regarding their communications services;
``(5) to ensure the ability to use or offer lawful
broadband content, applications, and services for lawful
purposes, as has been the policy and history of the Internet
and the basis of user expectations since its inception;
``(6) to guard against discriminatory favoritism for, or
degradation of, lawful content, applications, or services by
network operators based upon their source, ownership, or
destination on the Internet;
``(7) to preserve the freedom of independent Internet
content, application, and service providers to compete and
innovate;
``(8) to foster an evolving level of capacity available
throughout communications networks to support competition and
innovation for lawful Internet content, applications, and
services, including applications and services that require
substantial downstream and upstream bandwidth; and
``(9) to ensure that the Internet remains an indispensable
platform for innovation in the United States economy, thereby
enabling the Nation to provide global leadership in online
commerce and technological progress.
``(b) Duties of Internet Access Service Providers.--With respect to
any Internet access service offered to the public, each Internet access
service provider shall have the duty to--
``(1) not block, interfere with, discriminate against,
impair, or degrade the ability of any person to use an Internet
access service to access, use, send, post, receive, or offer
any lawful content, application, or service through the
Internet;
``(2) not impose a charge on any Internet content, service,
or application provider to enable any lawful Internet content,
application, or service to be offered, provided, or used
through the provider's service, beyond the end user charges
associated with providing the service to such provider;
``(3) not prevent or obstruct a user from attaching any
lawful device to or utilizing any such device in conjunction
with such service, provided such device does not harm the
provider's network;
``(4) offer Internet access service to any person upon
reasonable request therefor;
``(5) not provide or sell to any content, application, or
service provider, including any affiliate provider or joint
venture, any offering that prioritizes traffic over that of
other such providers on an Internet access service; and
``(6) not install or utilize network features, functions,
or capabilities that impede or hinder compliance with this
section.
``(c) Commission Action.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009, the
Commission shall promulgate rules to ensure that providers of Internet
access service--
``(1) fulfill the duties described in subsection (b);
``(2) disclose meaningful information to consumers about a
provider's Internet access service in a clear, uniform, and
conspicuous manner and in conformity with the duties described
in subsection (e);
``(3) generally, to the extent feasible, make available
sufficient network capacity to users to enable the provision,
availability, and use of an Internet access service to support
lawful content, applications, and services that require high
bandwidth communications to and from an end user; and
``(4) not operate Internet access services in an
anticompetitive, unreasonable, unfair, discriminatory, or
deceptive manner.
``(d) Reasonable Network Management.--Nothing in this section shall
be construed to prohibit an Internet access provider from engaging in
reasonable network management consistent with the policies and duties
of nondiscrimination and openness set forth in this Act. For purposes
of subsections (b)(1) and (b)(5), a network management practice is a
reasonable practice only if it furthers a critically important
interest, is narrowly tailored to further that interest, and is the
means of furthering that interest that is the least restrictive, least
discriminatory, and least constricting of consumer choice available. In
determining whether a network management practice is reasonable, the
Commission shall consider, among other factors, the particular network
architecture or technology limitations of the provider.
``(e) Transparency for Consumers.--With respect to any Internet
access service or private transmission capacity offered to the public,
each Internet access service provider shall provide to consumers and
make publicly available detailed information about such services,
including information about the speed, nature, and limitations of such
services. Each Internet access service provider must publicly disclose,
at a minimum, network management practices that affect communications
between a user and a content, application, or service provider in the
ordinary, routine use of such broadband service.
``(f) Stand-Alone Internet Access Service.--Within 180 days after
the date of enactment of the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009,
the Commission shall promulgate rules to ensure that an Internet access
service provider does not require a consumer, as a condition on the
purchase of any Internet access service offered by such provider, to
purchase any other service or offering. The Commission shall adopt any
other rules it determines necessary to make such requirement effective
and meaningful for consumers.
``(g) Other Services.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009, the
Commission shall complete all actions necessary to--
``(1) promote an ever-increasing level of Internet access
service to end users;
``(2) ensure that such evolving level of service provided
to end users is capable of supporting lawful content,
applications, and services and provides ample bandwidth for
such traffic to and from an end user;
``(3) promote both facilities-based and nonfacilities-based
competition to enable information service providers to have
marketplace choices for transmission capacity to reach end
users;
``(4) define the term `private transmission capacity
services';
``(5) clarify whether private transmission capacity
services may not be subject to the duties described in
subsections (b)(5) and (b)(6);
``(6) ensure that private transmission capacity services do
not undermine the purposes of this Act and do not diminish or
degrade the level of Internet access service offered to the
public by the same provider; and
``(7) ensure that private transmission capacity services
are not offered in an anticompetitive, unreasonable,
discriminatory, or deceptive manner.
``(h) Implementation.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009, the
Commission shall--
``(1) prescribe rules to permit any aggrieved person to
file a complaint with the Commission concerning any violation
of this section;
``(2) establish enforcement and expedited adjudicatory
review procedures consistent with the objectives of this
section, including the resolution of any complaint described in
paragraph (1) not later than 90 days after such complaint was
filed, except for good cause shown;
``(3) prescribe rules with respect to the reasonable
network management practices described under subsection (d) for
all Internet access services; and
``(4) prescribe rules with respect to the appropriate
disclosure obligations under subsection (e) for private
transmission capacity services.
``(i) Enforcement.--
``(1) In general.--The Commission shall enforce compliance
with this section under title V, except that--
``(A) no forfeiture liability shall be determined
under section 503(b) against any person unless such
person receives the notice required by section
503(b)(3) or section 503(b)(4); and
``(B) the provisions of section 503(b)(5) shall not
apply.
``(2) Special orders.--In addition to any other remedy
provided under this Act, the Commission may issue any
appropriate order, including an order--
``(A) directing an Internet access service provider
to pay damages to a complaining party for a violation
of this section or the regulations promulgated pursuant
to this section; or
``(B) to enforce the provisions of this section.
``(j) Illegal Conduct.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed or
interpreted to affect any law or regulation addressing prohibited or
unlawful activity, including any laws or regulations prohibiting theft
of content.
``(k) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, the following
definitions apply:
``(1) Internet access service.--The term `Internet access
service' means a 2-way transmission offered by an Internet
access service provider that transmits information between 2 or
more points and that has as its primary, but not exclusive,
purpose the enabling of data to be sent or received from the
Internet.
``(2) Internet access service provider.--The term `Internet
access service provider' means a person or entity that operates
or resells and controls any facility used to provide an
Internet access service directly to the public, whether
provided for a fee or for free, and whether provided via wire
or radio, except when such service is offered as an incidental
component of a noncommunications contractual relationship.
``(3) User.--The term `user' means any residential or
business subscriber who, by way of an Internet access service,
takes and utilizes Internet access services, whether provided
for a fee, in exchange for an explicit benefit, or for free.
``(4) Reasonable network management.--The term `reasonable
network management' shall be defined by the Commission through
regulations.''.
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