SB743: Bill Text

SB743,1,3 An Act to create 100.80 of the statutes; relating to: requirements and prohibited practices for Internet service providers and granting rule-making authority.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

This bill prohibits a provider of broadband Internet access service (BIAS) from doing any of the following:

1. Blocking lawful content, applications, or services or devices that do not harm the network.

2. Throttling lawful Internet traffic on the basis of content, application, or service or use of a device that does not harm the network.

3. Engaging in paid prioritization, which is the favoring of some Internet traffic over other traffic in exchange for some form of consideration.

4. Unreasonably interfering with or unreasonably disadvantaging an end user's ability to select, access, and use BIAS or an edge provider's ability to make lawful content, applications, services, and devices available to end users. An edge provider is someone who provides any content, application, or service over the Internet, or a device used for accessing any Internet content, application, or service.

5. Engaging in any unjust or unreasonable charge, practice, classification, or regulation.

6. Making any unjust or unreasonable discrimination in charges, practices, classifications, regulations, facilities, or services or subjecting any particular person, class of persons, or locality to any undue or unreasonable preference or advantage or prejudice or disadvantage.

7. Using, disclosing, or permitting access to any individually identifiable customer proprietary network information except in the provision of the BIAS or related service.

The bill also requires a BIAS provider to disclose commercial terms, which must include information on pricing, other fees, and data caps and allowances, and to disclose network performance characteristics, which must include information regarding packet loss. In addition, the bill requires a BIAS provider to make its services and equipment accessible to individuals with disabilities.

Finally, the bill requires the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to create and implement a complaint process for responding to violations of the bill's provisions.

For further information see the state fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

SB743,1 Section 1. 100.80 of the statutes is created to read:

SB743,2,2 100.80 Internet service providers. (1) Definitions. In this section:

SB743,2,10 (a) “Broadband Internet access service” means a mass-market retail service by wire or radio, including both fixed and mobile service, 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” includes any service that the department determines is providing a functional equivalent of the service described in the previous sentence, or that is used to evade the provisions of this section.

SB743,2,12 (b) “Content, applications, or services” includes all traffic transmitted to or from end users of a broadband Internet access service.

SB743,3,4 (c) “Customer proprietary network information” means information that relates to the quantity, technical configuration, type, destination, location, and amount of use of broadband Internet access service subscribed to by a customer and that is made available to the broadband Internet access service provider by the customer solely by virtue of the provider-customer relationship; and information contained in the bills pertaining to the broadband Internet access service received by the customer; except that such term does not include subscriber list information.

SB743,3,7 (d) “Edge provider” means any individual or entity that provides any content, application, or service over the Internet and any individual or entity that provides a device used for accessing any content, application, or service over the Internet.

SB743,3,9 (e) “End user” means any individual or entity that uses broadband Internet access service.

SB743,3,15 (f) “Paid prioritization” means the management of a broadband provider's network to directly or indirectly favor some traffic over other traffic, including through use of techniques such as traffic shaping, prioritization, resource reservation, or other forms of preferential traffic management, in exchange for consideration, monetary or otherwise, from a 3rd party or to benefit an affiliated entity.

SB743,3,20 (g) “Reasonable network management” means a practice that has a primarily technical network management justification but that does not include other business practices, and that is primarily used for and tailored to achieving a legitimate network management purpose, taking into account the particular network architecture and technology of the broadband Internet access service.

SB743,3,22 (2) Prohibitions. A person engaged in the provision of broadband Internet access service may not do any of the following:

SB743,4,2 (a) Block lawful content, applications, or services, or devices that do not harm the network, except as needed for reasonable network management, or charge a fee to an edge provider to avoid having the edge provider's lawful content, service, application, or nonharmful device blocked.

SB743,4,8 (b) Impair, degrade, slow down, or render effectively unusable lawful Internet traffic on the basis of content, application, or service, or use of a device that does not harm the network, except as needed for reasonable network management, or charge a fee to an edge provider to avoid having the edge provider's lawful content, service, application, or nonharmful device impaired, degraded, slowed down, or rendered effectively unusable.

SB743,4,12 (c) Engage in paid prioritization. This paragraph does not apply to a petitioner who requests a waiver from the department if the department determines that the proposed practice would provide some significant public interest benefit and would not harm the open nature of the Internet.

SB743,4,17 (d) Unreasonably interfere with or unreasonably disadvantage end users' ability to select, access, and use broadband Internet access service or the lawful content, applications, services, and devices of their choice and edge providers' ability to make lawful content, applications, services, and devices available to end users, except as needed for reasonable network management.

SB743,4,20 (e) Engage in any unjust or unreasonable charge, practice, classification, or regulation, except that this paragraph does not apply to any charge, practice, classification, or regulation that the department has exempted by rule.

SB743,5,2 (f) Make any unjust or unreasonable discrimination in charges, practices, classifications, regulations, facilities, or services for or in connection with like communication service, directly or indirectly, by any means or device; make or give any undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to any particular person, class of persons, or locality; or subject any particular person, class of persons, or locality to any undue or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage.

SB743,5,8 (g) Use, disclose, or permit access to individually identifiable customer proprietary network information except in the provision of the broadband Internet access service to the customer or in the provision of services necessary to, or used in, the provision of such service to the customer, including the publishing of directories, unless such use, disclosure, or access is required by law or is approved in writing by the customer.

SB743,5,10 (3) Requirements. A person engaged in the provision of broadband Internet access service shall do all of the following:

SB743,5,15 (a) Disclose, in a timely manner, prominently, in plain language, and in a way that is accessible to current and prospective end users and edge providers, to the department, and to 3rd parties who wish to monitor the provider's practices, accurate information on all of the following, in addition to any other information required to be disclosed under state or federal law:

SB743,5,17 1. Commercial terms, including pricing, other fees, and data caps and allowances.

SB743,5,22 2. Network performance characteristics, including information regarding packet loss, that is reasonably related to the performance the consumer would likely experience in the geographic area in which the consumer is purchasing the service, measured in terms of average performance over a reasonable period of time and during times of peak usage.

SB743,5,23 (b) Make its services and equipment accessible to individuals with disabilities.

SB743,6,3 (4) Complaint process. The department shall create and administer a process to allow parties to file complaints relating to violations of this section and for investigating and responding to complaints.

SB743,6,5 (5) Rules. The department may promulgate rules to implement and enforce the provisions of this section.

SB743,6,6 (End)