1.This Act may be cited as
the Data Cap Integrity Act of
2012
.
2.Truth-in-labeling
requirementsIt is the sense
of Congress that the Federal Communications Commission should continue its work
to ensure that consumers of Internet services are clearly and consistently
provided information that describes the services they are purchasing,
including—
(1)the cost of the
services they are purchasing;
(2)the rate of the
upload and download speed that the consumer is paying for;
(3)service limits
the Internet service provider establishes for purposes of network management,
including bandwidth throttling or rate limiting;
(4)contract term;
and
(5)legal and privacy
policies.
3.Managing
broadband congestion
(a)In
this section—
(1)the term
Commission means the Federal Communications Commission;
(2)the term
covered Internet service provider means an Internet service
provider that imposes a data cap on consumers of the provider; and
(3)the term
data cap means—
(A)a limit on the
amount of bits a consumer of an Internet service provider may download or
upload during a period of time specified by the Internet service provider;
or
(B)a fee-based
structure with the purpose of limiting the bits a consumer of an Internet
service provider may download or upload during a period of time specified by
the Internet service provider.
(b)Certification
of internet service providers
(1)An Internet service provider may not impose a data cap on
the consumers of the provider unless the provider is certified by the
Commission under paragraph (2).
(2)Certification
by commission
(A)
(i)The Commission shall consult with the National Institute
of Standards and Technology and other experts, including those in the private
sector, to establish standards to which an Internet service provider shall
adhere in order to accurately measure household data usage of consumers of the
provider and such standards must apply to the—
(I)hardware devices
used in homes of consumers and throughout the network of the Internet service
provider to measure data usage; and
(II)the mechanism,
including firmware and software, used by the Internet service provider to
measure data usage.
(ii)Prior to finalizing the standards required under clause
(i), the Commission shall allow for, and take into consideration, public
comment on proposed standards.
(B)Smart data caps
instead of dumb onesThe Commission shall evaluate a data cap
proposed by an Internet service provider to determine whether the data cap
functions to reasonably limit network congestion in a manner that does not
unnecessarily discourage use of the Internet.
(C)The
Commission shall provide certification to an Internet service provider, if the
Commission determines that—
(i)the
Internet service provider is accurately measuring household data usage
consistent with the standards established under subparagraph (A); and
(ii)the data cap
proposed by the Internet service provider functions to reasonably limit network
congestion without unnecessarily restricting Internet use.
(c)Discrimination
of contentA covered Internet service provider may not, for
purposes of measuring data usage or otherwise, provide preferential treatment
of data that is based on the source or the content of the data.
(d)Consumer
control of data usage
(1)A covered Internet service provider shall, upon the first
day of Internet service provided to a consumer, identify commercially available
tools that allow the consumer to—
(A)monitor, in real
time to the extent feasible, the amount of bits that the consumer has uploaded
or downloaded, and the relationship such information has to the terms of the
data cap of the Internet service provider; and
(B)control uploads
and downloads on all wireline and wireless devices that have access to the
Internet service network of the consumer.
(2)If any of the tools described in paragraph (1) are not
commercially available, the Internet service provider shall provide such tools
to the consumer on the first day that Internet service is provided to the
consumer.
(e)
(1)The Commission shall—
(A)establish a
procedure to enable individuals to file a complaint with the Commission
relating to an Internet service provider and whether the provider is accurately
measuring data use in relation to a data cap; and
(B)promptly
investigate any complaint filed in accordance with the procedure established
under subparagraph (A).
(2)Authority to
impose civil penalty
(A)The Commission may impose a civil penalty on an Internet
service provider that inaccurately measures data use in relation to a data cap
that is inconsistent with the standards established under subsection
(b)(2)(A).
(B)There is established in the Treasury of the United States
a fund to be known as the Data Cap Integrity Fund
(referred to
in this paragraph as the Fund
).
(C)Notwithstanding
section 3302 of title 31, United States Code, or any other law regarding the
crediting of money received for the Government, there shall be deposited in the
Fund any civil penalty collected by the Commission under subparagraph
(A).
(D)Amounts in the Fund shall be available to the
Commission to make payments to any individual who has filed a complaint in
accordance with the procedure established under paragraph (1)(A) in order to
make the individual financially whole as a result of an inaccurate measurement
of data use by an Internet service provider.
(E)Effective on September 30, 2013, and each year
thereafter, all unobligated balances in excess of $5,000,000 shall be
transferred to the General Fund of the Treasury for the purpose of deficit
reduction.
(f)Not
later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall
promulgate regulations to implement this section.