S.3703 - Data Cap Integrity Act of 2012112th Congress (2011-2012)
Text: S.3703 — 112th Congress (2011-2012)
There is one version of the bill.
Shown Here:
Introduced in Senate (12/20/2012)
[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[S. 3703 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3703
To improve the ability of consumers to control their digital data
usage, promote Internet use, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 20, 2012
Mr. Wyden introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To improve the ability of consumers to control their digital data
usage, promote Internet use, 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 ``Data Cap Integrity Act of 2012''.
SEC. 2. TRUTH-IN-LABELING REQUIREMENTS.
It 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.
SEC. 3. MANAGING BROADBAND CONGESTION.
(a) Definitions.--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) In general.--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) Accuracy in measurement.--
(i) In general.--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) Public comment.--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 ones.--The
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) Certification.--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 Content.--A 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) In general.--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) Provision of tools.--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) Enforcement.--
(1) In general.--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) In general.--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) Establishment of fund.--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) Deposits.--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) Expenditures from fund.--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) Excess amounts.--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) Regulations.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Commission shall promulgate regulations to implement
this section.