Tauzin-Dingell Clearinghouse   PDF Version   ‘‘American Broadband Competition Act of 2001’’.   (Original Signature of Member) 107TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. ll IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Mr. CANNON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on lllllllllllllll A BILL To ensure the application of the antitrust laws to local telephone monopolies; and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Broadband 4 Competition Act of 2001’’. 5 2 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE CLAYTON ACT ON THE APPLI- 1 CABILITY OF THE ANTITRUST LAWS TO CER- 2 TAIN VIOLATIONS IN THE TELECOMMUNI- 3 CATIONS INDUSTRY. 4 The Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12 et seq.) is amended 5 by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘SEC. 28. (a) In any action based on a claim arising 7 under the antitrust laws— 8 ‘‘(1) the court shall not dismiss such claim on 9 the ground that the defendant’s conduct was or is 10 subject to the Communications Act of 1934 (47 11 U.S.C. 101 et seq.), or that such Act takes prece- 12 dence over, because of its specificity or recency of 13 enactment, the antitrust laws; and 14 ‘‘(2) the trier of fact may consider any conduct 15 that violates any obligations or requirements im- 16 posed by the Communications Act of 1934 (47 17 U.S.C. 101 et seq.), or rules adopted pursuant 18 thereto, in determining whether the defendant has 19 engaged in anticompetitive or exclusionary conduct. 20 ‘‘SEC. 29. (a) If an adjudicatory body determines that 21 an incumbent local excange carrier in any particular State 22 has violated section 251, 252, 271, or 272 of the Commu- 23 nications Act of 1934, or any rules promulgated pursuant 24 to such sections, such carrier shall be deemed to have vio- 25 lated the antitrust laws. 26 3 ‘‘(b) In addition to any penalty that may be imposed 1 under any other provision of law, such carrier and all af- 2 filiates of such carrier may not jointly market in such 3 State any advanced telecommunications service with any 4 other telecommunications or information services offered 5 by such carrier or by any of such affiliates. 6 ‘‘(c) Not later than 1 year after the enactment of the 7 American Broadband Competition Act of 2001, the Attor- 8 ney General shall submit a report the Speaker of the 9 House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 10 of the Senate— 11 ‘‘(1) identifying suits brought under this sec- 12 tion; and 13 ‘‘(2) describing the effect that the enforcement 14 of this section has had on competitiveness in the 15 telecommunication marketplace.’’. 16 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF AN ALTERNATIVE PROCESS TO 17 RESOLVE DISPUTES. 18 (a) AMENDMENT.—Title 9 of the United States Code 19 is amended by inserting after section 16 the following: 20 ‘‘§17. Disputes arising under interconnection agree- 21 ments 22 ‘‘(a) INTERCONNECTION AGREEMENT CONTROVER- 23 SIES SUBJECT TO ARBITRATION.—Any interconnection 24 agreement entered into pursuant to section 252 of the 25 4 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 252) shall be 1 treated for purposes of this chapter as a contract con- 2 taining a written provision to settle by arbitration a con- 3 troversy thereafter arising out of such contract. Any such 4 controversy shall be subject to arbitration in accordance 5 with the alternate dispute resolution process established 6 pursuant to this section. 7 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT REQUIRED.—Within 90 days 8 after enactment of the American Broadband Competition 9 Act of 2001, the Attorney General shall prescribe a 10 multistate alternative dispute resolution process. The At- 11 torney General shall not include either the Federal Com- 12 munications Commission nor any State commission as a 13 party to such dispute resolution process. 14 ‘‘(c) CRITERIA FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF PROCESS.— 15 The multistate alternative dispute resolution process re- 16 quired by this section shall— 17 ‘‘(1) provide for a private, commercial arbitra- 18 tion process that will permit a requesting tele- 19 communications carrier to resolve a dispute related 20 to an interconnection agreement with an incumbent 21 local exchange carrier arising in 1 or several States 22 in an open, nondiscriminatory, and unbiased fashion 23 within 45 days after the filing of such dispute; 24 5 ‘‘(2) incorporate the Commercial Dispute Reso- 1 lution Procedures of the American Arbitration Asso- 2 ciation in effect at the date of enactment of the 3 American Broadband Competition Act of 2001 to 4 the extent consistent with the time limits imposed in 5 this section, except that all decisions of arbitration 6 panels constituted pursuant to this section shall be 7 in writing, publicly available, and posted on the 8 Internet; 9 ‘‘(3) permit all parties to have the right to dis- 10 covery; and 11 ‘‘(4) ensure requesting telecommunications car- 12 riers do not file frivolous disputes, and establish 13 penalties to deter such conduct. 14 ‘‘(d) AUTHORITY OF ARBITRATION PANELS.—Except 15 as otherwise provided in this section, awards and decisions 16 of such arbitration panels shall be enforceable in Federal 17 district courts pursuant to the procedures of this chapter. 18 ‘‘(e) NO COLLATERAL ESTOPPEL.—The parties to 19 the controversy shall be bound by the decision of the arbi- 20 tration panel as to the matter in controversy under the 21 interconnection agreement entered into pursuant to sec- 22 tion 252 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 23 252), but otherwise such decision shall not have the effect 24 6 of collateral estoppel in any other proceeding involving any 1 of such parties. 2 ‘‘(f) OTHER REMEDIES NOT LIMITED.—Except as 3 provided in subsection (e), the availability of alternative 4 dispute resolution pursuant to this section shall not— 5 ‘‘(1) limit any other remedy a requesting tele- 6 communications carrier might have for the same or 7 similar facts, including relief before the Attorney 8 General of the United States, the Federal Commu- 9 nications Commission or State commissions (as de- 10 fined by section 3 of the Communications Act of 11 1934), courts of the United States, or any other ap- 12 propriate forum; or 13 ‘‘(2) modify, affect, or supersede the authority 14 and responsibility of the Federal Communications 15 Commission to expeditiously administer and enforce 16 the Communications Act of 1934.’’. 17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec- 18 tions of chapter 1 of title 9 is amended by inserting after 19 the item relating to section 16 the following: 20 ‘‘17. Disputes arising under interconnection agreements.’’.