[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 279 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 279

 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to limit the authority of the 
Federal Communications Commission over providers of broadband Internet 
                            access service.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 12, 2015

Mr. Latta (for himself, Mr. Jones, Mr. Weber of Texas, and Mr. Rangel) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                          Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to limit the authority of the 
Federal Communications Commission over providers of broadband Internet 
                            access service.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Internet is a powerful engine for economic growth 
        that has remained open, free, and accessible without government 
        regulation since its entrance into the public sphere.
            (2) Title II of the Communications Act of 1934 was designed 
        for the monopoly telephone system in 1934 and has its origins 
        in 19th century shipping regulations.
            (3) Imposing the obligations and requirements of title II 
        of such Act on broadband Internet access service would severely 
        harm broadband investment and create myriad negative unintended 
        consequences.
            (4) The Federal Communications Commission has consistently 
        taken actions that classify broadband Internet access service, 
        even in different forms, as an information service. Such 
        actions include the following:
                    (A) In 1998, Chairman Bill Kennard issued a Report 
                to Congress finding that Internet access is an 
                information service with a telecommunications 
                component.
                    (B) In 2002, the Commission issued a Declaratory 
                Ruling (17 FCC Rcd 4798) classifying cable modem 
                broadband Internet access service as an information 
                service. In the 2005 case of National Cable & 
                Telecommunications Association v. Brand X Internet 
                Services (545 U.S. 967), the Supreme Court of the 
                United States affirmed this determination that such 
                service is not a common carrier service and is 
                appropriately classified as an information service.
                    (C) In 2005, the Commission issued a Report and 
                Order (20 FCC Rcd 14853) affirming the classification 
                of wireline broadband Internet access service as an 
                information service.
                    (D) In 2007, the Commission issued a Declaratory 
                Ruling (22 FCC Rcd 5901) affirming the classification 
                of wireless broadband Internet access service as an 
                information service.
            (5) These Commission rulings unleashed tens of billions of 
        dollars of investment in the Nation's broadband networks, 
        investment that would not have been made if broadband services 
        were subject to common carrier requirements.

SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY OF FCC.

    (a) In General.--Section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 153) is amended as follows:
            (1) Common carrier.--Paragraph (11) is amended by adding at 
        the end the following: ``Such term does not include a provider 
        of an information service or of advanced telecommunications 
        capability (as defined in section 706 of the Telecommunications 
        Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302)) when engaged in the provision of 
        such service or capability.''.
            (2) Information service.--Paragraph (24) is amended to read 
        as follows:
            ``(24) Information service.--The term `information service' 
        means the offering of a capability for generating, acquiring, 
        storing, transforming, processing, retrieving, utilizing, or 
        making available information via telecommunications, and 
        includes electronic publishing, but does not include--
                    ``(A) a telecommunications service; or
                    ``(B) any use of any such capability for the 
                management, control, or operation of a 
                telecommunications system or the management of a 
                telecommunications service.
        Such term includes broadband Internet access service. A 
        provider of an information service may not be treated as a 
        telecommunications carrier under this Act when engaged in the 
        provision of an information service, and may not be required to 
        offer such service or any component of such service as a 
        telecommunications service.''.
            (3) Telecommunications carrier.--Paragraph (51) is amended 
        by adding at the end the following: ``Such term does not 
        include a provider of an information service or of advanced 
        telecommunications capability (as defined in section 706 of the 
        Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302)) when engaged 
        in the provision of such service or capability.''.
            (4) Telecommunications service.--Paragraph (53) is amended 
        by adding at the end the following: ``Such term does not 
        include any service that is an information service, any 
        component of an information service, or advanced 
        telecommunications capability (as defined in section 706 of the 
        Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302)).''.
    (b) Broadband Internet Access Service Defined.--Section 3 of the 
Communications Act of 1934 is further amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (6) through (59) as 
        paragraphs (7) through (60), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following:
            ``(6) Broadband internet access service.--The term 
        `broadband Internet access service' means a mass-market retail 
        service by wire or radio that provides the capability to 
        transmit data to and receive data from all or substantially all 
        Internet endpoints, including any capabilities that are 
        incidental to and enable the operation of the communications 
        service, but excluding dial-up Internet access service. 
        Broadband Internet access service is an information service, 
        and includes a service utilizing advanced telecommunications 
        capability (as defined in section 706 of the Telecommunications 
        Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302)).''.
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