text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  
      This Act may be cited as the ``Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 
  2008''.
  
  SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
  
      Congress finds the following:
              (1) The Internet has had profound benefits for numerous 
          aspects of daily life for millions of people throughout the 
          United States and is increasingly vital to the economy of the 
          United States.
              (2) The importance of the broadband marketplace to 
          citizens, communities, and commerce warrants a thorough inquiry 
          to obtain input and ideas for a variety of broadband policies 
          that will promote openness, competition, innovation, and 
          affordable, ubiquitous broadband service for all individuals in 
          the United States.
  
  SEC. 3. BROADBAND POLICY.
  
      Title I of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) 
  is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
  
  ``SEC. 12. BROADBAND POLICY.
  
      ``It is the policy of the United States--
              ``(1) to maintain the freedom to use for lawful purposes 
          broadband telecommunications networks, including the Internet, 
          without unreasonable interference from or discrimination by 
          network operators, as has been the policy and history of the 
          Internet and the basis of user expectations since its 
          inception;
              ``(2) to ensure that the Internet remains a vital force in 
          the United States economy, thereby enabling the Nation to 
          preserve its global leadership in online commerce and 
          technological innovation;
              ``(3) to preserve and promote the open and interconnected 
          nature of broadband networks that enable consumers to reach, 
          and service providers to offer, lawful content, applications, 
          and services of their choosing, using their selection of 
          devices, as long as such devices do not harm the network; and
              ``(4) to safeguard the open marketplace of ideas on the 
          Internet by adopting and enforcing baseline protections to 
          guard against unreasonable discriminatory favoritism for, or 
          degradation of, content by network operators based upon its 
          source, ownership, or destination on the Internet.''.
  
  SEC. 4. INTERNET FREEDOM ASSESSMENT.
  
      (a) Internet Freedom Assessment Required.--
              (1) In general.--Within 90 days after the date of the 
          enactment of this Act, the Federal Communications Commission 
          (in this Act referred to as the ``Commission'') shall commence 
          a proceeding on broadband services and consumer rights.
              (2) Specific requirements.--As part of the proceeding under 
          this section, the Commission shall assess--
                      (A) whether broadband network providers adhere to 
                  the Commission's Broadband Policy Statement of August, 
                  2005 (FCC 05-151), including whether, consistent with 
                  the needs of law enforcement, such providers refrain 
                  from blocking, thwarting, or unreasonably interfering 
                  with the ability of consumers to--
                              (i) access, use, send, receive, or offer 
                          lawful content, applications, or services over 
                          broadband networks, including the Internet;
                              (ii) use lawful applications and services 
                          of their choice; and
                              (iii) attach or connect their choice of 
                          legal devices to use in conjunction with their 
                          broadband telecommunications or information 
                          services, provided such devices do not harm the 
                          network;
                      (B) whether broadband network providers add charges 
                  for quality of service, or other similar additional 
                  fees or surcharges, to certain Internet applications 
                  and service providers, and whether such pricing 
                  conflicts with the policies of the United States stated 
                  in section 12 of the Communications Act of 1934 (as 
                  added by section 3 of this Act);
                      (C) whether broadband network providers offer to 
                  consumers parental control protection tools, services 
                  to combat unsolicited commercial electronic mail, and 
                  other similar consumer services, the manner in which 
                  such services are offered, and the extent to which such 
                  services are consistent with such policies of the 
                  United States;
                      (D) practices by which network providers manage or 
                  prioritize network traffic, including prioritization 
                  for emergency communications, and whether and in what 
                  instances such practices may be consistent with such 
                  policies of the United States;
                      (E) with respect to content, applications, and 
                  services--
                              (i) the historic economic benefits of an 
                          open platform;
                              (ii) the relationship between competition 
                          in the broadband Internet access market and an 
                          open platform; and
                              (iii) the policy choices and results of 
                          global competitors with respect to access 
                          competition and an open platform;
                      (F) whether the need for enforceable rules 
                  governing openness, consumer rights, and consumer 
                  protections or prohibiting unreasonable discrimination 
                  is lessened if a broadband network provider provides 
                  significantly high bandwidth speeds to consumers; and
                      (G) the potential of policies promoting openness in 
                  spectrum allocation, universal service programs, and 
                  video franchising to expand innovation through 
                  protection from unreasonable interference by network 
                  owners of an open marketplace for speech and commerce 
                  in content, applications, and services.
      (b) Public Broadband Summits Required.--
              (1) In general.--As part of the proceeding required under 
          subsection (a), and within 1 year after the date of the 
          enactment of this Act, the Commission shall conduct a minimum 
          of 8 public broadband summits, in geographically diverse 
          locations, around the United States. The Commission shall 
          publicly announce the time and location of each such summit at 
          least 30 days in advance.
              (2) Purpose of public broadband summits.--Such public 
          broadband summits shall seek to bring together, among others, 
          consumers, consumer advocates, small business owners, 
          corporations, venture capitalists, State and local governments, 
          academia, labor organizations, religious organizations, 
          representatives of higher education, primary and secondary 
          schools, public libraries, public safety, and the technology 
          sector to assess competition, consumer protection, and consumer 
          choice issues related to broadband Internet access services.
      (c) Internet Input.--As part of the proceeding required under 
  subsection (a), the Commission shall seek to utilize broadband 
  technology to encourage input from and communication with the people of 
  the United States through the Internet in a manner that will maximize 
  the ability of such people to participate in such proceeding.
      (d) Report to Congress.--Within 90 days after completing the 
  summits under subsection (b), the Commission shall submit a report to 
  Congress--
              (1) summarizing the results of the assessment under 
          subsection (a), including information gained from the public 
          summits under subsection (b); and
              (2) providing recommendations on how to promote 
          competition, safeguard free speech, and ensure robust consumer 
          protections and consumer choice relating to broadband Internet 
          access services.
target: Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2008 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to declare that it is U.S. policy to: (1) maintain the freedom to use broadband telecommunications networks, including the Internet, without unreasonable interference from or discrimination by network operators; (2) enable the United States to preserve its global leadership in online commerce and technological innovation; (3) promote the open and interconnected nature of broadband networks that enable consumers to reach, and service providers to offer, content, applications, and services of their choosing; and (4) guard against unreasonable discriminatory favoritism for, or degradation of, content by network operators based upon its source, ownership, or destination on the Internet.
  
  Requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to commence a proceeding on broadband services and consumer rights, including assessing whether broadband network providers: (1) refrain from unreasonably interfering with the ability of consumers to access, use, send, receive, or offer content, applications, or services of their choice, and attach or connect their choice of devices; and (2) add charges for quality of service to certain Internet applications and service providers.
feat_title: To establish broadband policy and direct the Federal Communications Commission to conduct a proceeding and public broadband summits to assess competition, consumer protection, and consumer choice issues relating to broadband Internet access services, and for other purposes.