110th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 215
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to ensure net neutrality.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 9, 2007
Mr. DORGAN (for himself, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. KERRY, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. HARKIN,
Mr. LEAHY, Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. OBAMA, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science,
and Transportation
A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to ensure net neutrality.
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'.
SEC. 2. INTERNET NEUTRALITY.
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 NEUTRALITY.
`(a) Duty of Broadband Service Providers- With respect to any broadband
service offered to the public, each broadband service provider shall--
`(1) not block, interfere with, discriminate against, impair, or degrade
the ability of any person to use a broadband service to access, use, send,
post, receive, or offer any lawful content, application, or service made
available via the Internet;
`(2) not prevent or obstruct a user from attaching or using any device
to the network of such broadband service provider, only if such device
does not physically damage or substantially degrade the use of such network
by other subscribers;
`(3) provide and make available to each user information about such user's
access to the Internet, and the speed, nature, and limitations of such
user's broadband service;
`(4) enable any content, application, or service made available via the
Internet to be offered, provided, or posted on a basis that--
`(A) is reasonable and nondiscriminatory, including with respect to
quality of service, access, speed, and bandwidth;
`(B) is at least equivalent to the access, speed, quality of service,
and bandwidth that such broadband service provider offers to affiliated
content, applications, or services made available via the public Internet
into the network of such broadband service provider; and
`(C) does not impose a charge on the basis of the type of content, applications,
or services made available via the Internet into the network of such
broadband service provider;
`(5) only prioritize content, applications, or services accessed by a
user that is made available via the Internet within the network of such
broadband service provider based on the type of content, applications,
or services and the level of service purchased by the user, without charge
for such prioritization; and
`(6) not install or utilize network features, functions, or capabilities
that impede or hinder compliance with this section.
`(b) Certain Management and Business-Related Practices- Nothing in this
section shall be construed to prohibit a broadband service provider from
engaging in any activity, provided that such activity is not inconsistent
with the requirements of subsection (a), including--
`(1) protecting the security of a user's computer on the network of such
broadband service provider, or managing such network in a manner that
does not distinguish based on the source or ownership of content, application,
or service;
`(2) offering directly to each user broadband service that does not distinguish
based on the source or ownership of content, application, or service,
at different prices based on defined levels of bandwidth or the actual
quantity of data flow over a user's connection;
`(3) offering consumer protection services (including parental controls
for indecency or unwanted content, software for the prevention of unsolicited
commercial electronic messages, or other similar capabilities), if each
user is provided clear and accurate advance notice of the ability of such
user to refuse or disable individually provided consumer protection capabilities;
`(4) handling breaches of the terms of service offered by such broadband
service provider by a subscriber, provided that such terms of service
are not inconsistent with the requirements of subsection (a); or
`(5) where otherwise required by law, to prevent any violation of Federal
or State law.
`(c) Exception- Nothing in this section shall apply to any service regulated
under title VI, regardless of the physical transmission facilities used
to provide or transmit such service.
`(d) Stand-Alone Broadband Service- A broadband service provider shall not
require a subscriber, as a condition on the purchase of any broadband service
offered by such broadband service provider, to purchase any cable service,
telecommunications service, or IP-enabled voice service.
`(e) Implementation- Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment
of the Internet Freedom Preservation Act, the Commission shall prescribe
rules to implement this section that--
`(1) permit any aggrieved person to file a complaint with the Commission
concerning any violation of this section; and
`(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.
`(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
directing a broadband service provider--
`(A) to pay damages to a complaining party for a violation of this section
or the regulations hereunder; or
`(B) to enforce the provisions of this section.
`(g) Definitions- In this section, the following definitions shall apply:
`(1) AFFILIATED- The term `affiliated' includes--
`(A) a person that (directly or indirectly) owns or controls, is owned
or controlled by, or is under common ownership or control with, another
person; or
`(B) a person that has a contract or other arrangement with a content,
applications, or service provider relating to access to or distribution
of such content, applications, or service.
`(2) BROADBAND SERVICE- The term `broadband service' means a 2-way transmission
that--
`(A) connects to the Internet regardless of the physical transmission
facilities used; and
`(B) transmits information at an average rate of at least 200 kilobits
per second in at least 1 direction.
`(3) BROADBAND SERVICE PROVIDER- The term `broadband service provider'
means a person or entity that controls, operates, or resells and controls
any facility used to provide broadband service to the public, whether
provided for a fee or for free.
`(4) IP-ENABLED VOICE SERVICE- The term `IP-enabled voice service' means
the provision of real-time 2-way voice communications offered to the public,
or such classes of users as to be effectively available to the public,
transmitted through customer premises equipment using TCP/IP protocol,
or a successor protocol, for a fee (whether part of a bundle of services
or separately) with interconnection capability such that service can originate
traffic to, and terminate traffic from, the public switched telephone
network.
`(5) USER- The term `user' means any residential or business subscriber
who, by way of a broadband service, takes and utilizes Internet services,
whether provided for a fee, in exchange for an explicit benefit, or for
free.'.
SEC. 3. REPORT ON DELIVERY OF CONTENT, APPLICATIONS, AND SERVICES.
Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually
thereafter, the Federal Communications Commission shall transmit a report
to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate
and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives
on the--
(1) ability of providers of content, applications, or services to transmit
and send such information into and over broadband networks;
(2) ability of competing providers of transmission capability to transmit
and send such information into and over broadband networks;
(3) price, terms, and conditions for transmitting and sending such information
into and over broadband networks;
(4) number of entities that transmit and send information into and over
broadband networks; and
(5) state of competition among those entities that transmit and send information
into and over broadband networks.
END
