093_HB2969
LRB093 07511 JLS 07684 b
1 AN ACT concerning open access for Internet services.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 1. Short Title. This Act may be cited as the
5 Internet Access Enhancement Act.
6 Section 5. Legislative findings. The General Assembly
7 declares that it is in the best interests of the people of
8 the State of Illinois to ensure that no high-speed broadband
9 Internet access transport provider with an affiliated
10 Internet service provider has a monopoly; that customer
11 choice of Internet Service Providers is available to members
12 of the public who use the Internet; and that business
13 transactions between Internet service providers and
14 high-speed broadband Internet access transport providers
15 concerning access to the Internet are conducted in such a way
16 as to ensure high-speed broadband access to Internet service
17 is granted in a fair, equitable, and non-discriminatory
18 fashion.
19 Section 10. Definitions.
20 "Affiliate" means a person who, directly or indirectly,
21 owns or controls, is owned or controlled by, or is under
22 common ownership or control with, another person. For
23 purposes of this definition, the term "own" means to own an
24 equity or other financial interest (or the equivalent
25 thereof) of more than 10% or any management interest.
26 "Cable operator" has the meaning set forth in 47 U.S.C.
27 Section 522(5).
28 "High-speed broadband" means possessing the capability to
29 transmit data upstream and downstream at a rate of 200
30 kilobits per second or greater.
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1 "High-speed broadband Internet access transport provider"
2 means a person who provides high-speed broadband Internet
3 access transport services, by aid of wire, cable, or other
4 like connection over facilities owned by it or under its
5 control directly or indirectly to the public for
6 consideration (on a bundled or unbundled basis). The term
7 also includes an Internet service provider who self-provides,
8 over facilities owned by it or under its control, the
9 high-speed wireline broadband transport of its services
10 between itself and its users.
11 "High-speed broadband Internet access transport services"
12 means the high-speed broadband transmission of data between a
13 user and his or her Internet service provider's point of
14 interconnection with the high-speed broadband Internet access
15 transport provider's facilities.
16 "Internet" means collectively the myriad of computer and
17 telecommunications facilities, including equipment and
18 operating software, that comprise the interconnected
19 world-wide network of networks that employ the Transmission
20 Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, or any predecessor or
21 successor protocols to such protocol, to communicate
22 information of all kinds by wire or radio or any other means.
23 "Internet service provider" means a person who provides a
24 service that enables users to access content, information,
25 electronic mail, or other services offered over the Internet.
26 Section 15. Duty of high-speed broadband Internet access
27 transport providers to provide equal access to services of
28 Internet service providers. A high-speed broadband Internet
29 access transport provider who is also a cable operator or
30 affiliate of a high-speed broadband Internet access transport
31 provider who is also a cable operator shall provide any
32 requesting Internet service provider access to its high-speed
33 broadband Internet access transport services (unbundled from
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1 the provision of content) on rates, terms, and conditions
2 that are at least as favorable as those on which it provides
3 access to itself, to its affiliate, or to any other person.
4 Access shall be provided at any technically feasible point
5 selected by the requesting Internet service provider who is
6 also a cable operator. A high-speed broadband Internet access
7 transport provider or affiliate of a high-speed broadband
8 Internet access transport provider may collect from an
9 Internet service provider the reasonable costs associated
10 with providing access as required under this Section. Failure
11 to provide access to Internet service as required under this
12 Section 15 is an unlawful practice.
13 Section 20. Exception established where high-speed
14 broadband Internet access transport services are not provided
15 to the public. The following are not providing high-speed
16 broadband Internet access transport services to the public
17 within the meaning of Section 15:
18 (1) federal, state, or local governmental entities
19 that provide highspeed broadband Internet access
20 transport services to their employees at their place of
21 employment;
22 (2) institutions of higher education under the
23 jurisdiction of the Board of Higher Education that
24 provide high-speed broadband Internet access transport
25 services to their students, faculty, or employees;
26 (3) businesses that provide high-speed broadband
27 Internet access transport services to their employees at
28 their place of employment; and
29 (4) real estate owners or managers that provide
30 high-speed broadband Internet access transport services
31 solely to their own tenants or residents without
32 assessing a separate charge for this service to their
33 tenants or residents.
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1 Section 25. Home rule. The establishment of standards
2 for the provision and enforcement of equal access to
3 high-speed broadband Internet transport as provided in this
4 Act is an exclusive power and function of the State. A home
5 rule unit may not establish standards for the provision and
6 enforcement of equal access to high-speed broadband Internet
7 transport. This Act is a denial and limitation of home rule
8 powers and functions under subsection (h) of Section 6 of
9 Article VII of the Illinois Constitution.
10 Section 30. Attorney General; general powers. When it
11 appears to the Attorney General that a person has engaged in
12 or is engaging in any practice declared to be unlawful by
13 this Act; when the Attorney General receives a written
14 complaint from a consumer or Internet service provider of a
15 practice declared to be unlawful under this Act; or when the
16 Attorney General believes it to be in the public interest
17 that an investigation should be made to ascertain whether a
18 person, in fact, has engaged in or is engaging in any
19 practice declared to be unlawful by this Act, the Attorney
20 General may:
21 (1) require that person to file on such terms as
22 the Attorney General prescribes a statement or report in
23 writing under oath or otherwise, as to all information
24 the Attorney General may consider necessary;
25 (2) examine under oath any person in connection
26 with the practice;
27 (3) examine any record, book, document, account,
28 paper, or other item as the Attorney General may consider
29 necessary; and
30 (4) pursuant to an order of a circuit court,
31 impound any record, book, document, account, paper, or
32 other item that is produced in accordance with this Act
33 and retain it in the Attorney General's possession until
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1 the completion of all proceedings in connection with
2 which it is produced.
3 Section 35. Attorney General; issuance of subpoenas and
4 conduct of hearings; rules. To accomplish the objectives and
5 to carry out the duties prescribed by this Act, the Attorney
6 General, in addition to other powers conferred upon him by
7 this Act, may issue subpoenas to any person, administer an
8 oath or affirmation to any person, conduct hearings in aid of
9 any investigation or inquiry, prescribe forms and promulgate
10 such rules as may be necessary, which rules shall have the
11 force of law.
12 Section 40. Notice; manner of service. Service by the
13 Attorney General of any notice requiring a person to file a
14 statement or report, or of a subpoena upon any person, shall
15 be made in the manner provided in the Civil Practice Law.
16 Section 45. Failure to file report or obey subpoena. If
17 a person fails or refuses to file any statement or report, or
18 obey any subpoena issued by the Attorney General, the
19 Attorney General may file a complaint in the circuit court
20 for the (i) granting of injunctive relief or (ii) granting of
21 such other relief as may be required, until the person files
22 the statement or report, or obeys the subpoena.
23 Section 50. Injunctive and other relief.
24 (a) When the Attorney General has reason to believe that
25 a person has engaged in or is engaging in a practice declared
26 by this Act to be unlawful, he or she may bring an action in
27 the name of the People of the State against the person to
28 restrain by preliminary or permanent injunction the act or
29 practice. The court, in its discretion, may exercise all
30 powers necessary including, but not limited to, injunctive
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1 relief.
2 (b) In addition to the remedy provided in subsection
3 (a), the Attorney General may request, and the court may
4 impose, a civil penalty in a sum not to exceed $2,500 per
5 offense and costs of investigation and prosecution against a
6 person found by the Court to have engaged in any practice
7 declared unlawful under this Act. Each day a person is found
8 to be in violation of this Act shall constitute a separate
9 offense.
10 Section 55. Private right of action. A person who has
11 been aggrieved as a result of a violation of this Act may
12 bring an action in the circuit court of the county in which
13 either party is located. Upon a finding that a party has
14 committed a violation of this Act, the court may award
15 damages and injunctive relief.