Thanks to our terrific colleague John Windhausen of Telepoly Consulting for this analysis of the Sensenbrener-Conyers net neutrality bill (H.R. 5417) that was introduced today:
• It is a violation of the Clayton antitrust Act for broadband providers to:
a. fail to provide access to its broadband network on reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms and conditions to anyone to offer content, applications or services at least equal to the broadband provider's own services (or its affiliate's services);
b. refuse to interconnect with other broadband providers;
c. to block impair, discriminate or interfere with anyone's services or applications or content;
d. to prohibit attachment of equipment that does not harm the network;
e. to fail to disclose information about the broadband service.
• If a broadband provider prioritizes traffic of a particular type, it must prioritize all traffic of that same type, with no additional fee.
• Nothing prevents broadband providers from nondiscriminatorily:
a. managing the network to promote security;
b. give priority to emergency communications;
c. prevent a violation of law or comply with a court order.
“Affiliate” is defined to include anyone the broadband owner owns, controls or has a contract with.
“Broadband Provider” is anyone “engaged in commerce” who offers a broadband service to the public, with or without a fee.
“Broadband Service” is defined as any 2-way service and connects to the Internet at at least 200 kbps.