The Internet is a powerful international communications tool; how does the 114th Congress plan to change how it’s governed? In this episode, learn about the bills that are moving through Congress that could have a direct effect on the future of the Internet.

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Bills Highlighted in This Episode H.R. 2666: No Rate Regulation of Broadband Internet Access Act

Bill Highlights

• Prohibits the Federal Communications Commission from regulating the rates charged for Internet access
  • The FCC can regulate rates of a company that accepts Federal government money for universal service
  • This bill does not apply to data roaming and interconnection

Votes

• Passed the House of Representatives 241-173

Author

• Rep. Adam Kinzinger (IL-16)

Organizations Lobbying For This Bill

• AT&T
• Comcast
• US Telecom Association
• Time Warner

H.R. 4596: Small Business Broadband Deployment Act

Bill Highlights

• Paragraphs 162 through 184 of the FCC’s net neutrality order will not apply to Small Businesses for 5 years
  • Information the “small businesses” would be exempt from having to provide customers includes:
    • Information about promotional rates, including the duration of the promotion and the full monthly charge the customer will incur after the promotion expires
    • All one-time and/or recurring fees, including modem rental fees, installation charges, service charges, and early termination fees.
    • Actual network performance
• A “small business” is one that has fewer than 250,000 subscribers

Votes

• Passed the House of Representatives 411-0

Author

• Rep. Greg Walden (OR-2)

Organizations Lobbying For This Bill

• Cellular Telecom & Internet Association
• US Telecom Association

H.R. 699: Email Privacy Act

Bill Highlights

• Prohibits electronic communication services from disclosing the contents of communications that the company is holding or maintaining (without this bill, only communications “stored” would be protected).
• Eliminates the current law that allows the government to access using only subpoenas (as opposed to warrants) for electronic communications that have been stored more than 180 days
• Replaces the 180 divider with new text that requires warrants regardless of the amount of time the information is stored.
• Allows the electronic communication services to notify their customers of a received warrant, court order, subpoena, or request, if they want to.
• Expands the amount of time the government may delay notification of customers about a warrant, subpoena, order, or other directive from 90 days to 180 days.
• Eliminates a current provision of law that requires the government to inform the customer about the information the government requested and why the notification was delayed.

Vote

• Passed the House of Representatives 419-0

Author

• Rep. Kevin Yoder (KS-3)

Organizations Lobbying For This Bill

• Yahoo
• Google
• AT&T
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Deutsche Bank

H.R. 805: DOTCOM Act of 2015

Bill Highlights

• Prohibits the transition of NTIA’s functions in Internet domain name registry until 30 days after Congress receives a report outlining the transition plan.

Votes

• Passed the House of Representatives 378-25

Author

• Rep. John Shimkus(IL-15)

Organizations that lobbyed on H.R. 805

• Verisign

Sound Clip Sources

• Hearing: Privatizing the Internet Assigned Number Authority (not available on C-SPAN), House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, March 17, 2016.

• Hearing: Stakeholder Perspectives on the IANA Transition (not available on C-SPAN), House Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, May 13, 2015.

• Hearing: Email Privacy Act, House Judiciary Committee, December 1, 3015.

Additional Information

• Proposal to Transition the Stewardship of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Functions from the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to the Global Multistakeholder Community, March 2016.

• Report to Congress: The Future of Internet Governance: Should the US Relinquish Its Authority over ICANN? by Lennard Kruger, Congressional Research Service, March 22, 2016.

• Report to Congress: Internet Governance and the Domain Name System: Issues for Congress by Lennard Kruger, Congressional Research Service, March 23, 2016.

• Hearing: Preserving the Multistakeholder Model of Internet Governance, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, February 25, 2015.

• Hearing: Stakeholder Perspectives on ICANN: The .Sucks Domain and Essential Steps to Guarantee Trust and Accountability in the Internet’s Operation, House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet, May 13, 2015.

• Hearing: Internet Governance Progress After ICANN 53 (not available on C-SPAN), House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, July 8, 2015.

• Federal Communications Commission Report and Order on Remand, Declaratory Ruling, and Order, February 2015.

• Verisign/ICANN Proposal in Response to NTIA Request

• ICANNWiki: Internet Assigned Numbers Authority

• Webpage: Lobbyists working for LHD & Associates

• Webpage: Information about LHD & Associates

Additional Reading

• Article: We the networks, The Economist, March 5, 2016.

• Article: Net Neutrality Is in More Danger Than Ever by Klint Finley, Wired, March 1, 2016.

• Article: Email privacy bill gets long-awaited hearing by Mario Trujillo, The Hill, November 30 2o15.

• Article: The United Nations has a radical, dangerous vision for the future of the Web by Caitlin Dewey, The Washington Post, September 24, 2015.

• Article: WHAT’S GOING ON BETWEEN NTIA, ICANN AND VERISIGN? by Milton Mueller, Internet Governance Project, August 18, 2015.

• Article: Changes to Domain Name Rules Place User Privacy in Jeopardy by Jeremy Malcom and Mitch Stoltz, Electronic Frontier Foundation, June 23, 2015.

• Article: Doing the ICANN-can, The Economist, March 20, 2014

• Article: The U.S. is relinquishing control of domain names. Here’s why. by Sam Gustin, Fortune, March 17, 2014.

• Press Release: NTIA Announces Intent to Transition Key Internet Domain Name Functions by NTIA Office of Public Affairs, March 14, 2014.

• Article: Internet tax moratorium extended again by Grant Gross, PC World, December 15, 2014.

• Scholarly Journal: Domain Names, Globalization, and Internet Governance by Marshall Leaffer, Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies Vol. 6: Iss. 1, Article 5, Fall 1998.

Music Presented in This Episode

• Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio)

Cover Art

Design by Only Child Imaginations

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Jennifer Briney Podcaster

Jennifer Briney started paying attention to world events while studying in Germany in the spring of 2003 when the United States overthrew the government of Iraq. After experiencing the war from outside the United States, she started asking questions about her government. Every answer led to fifty more questions. This led to a thirst for information that she is still unable to quench.

Over the years, the feeling like she was the only person paying attention to this information was making Jen insane so in late 2012, she launched Congressional Dish in order to share the information, to have an emotional outlet for dealing with the discoveries, and to create a community of people who were interested in Congress’s effect on our lives. Congressional Dish is now her full-time career, thanks entirely to the support from our growing community of producers from all over the world.