[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 275 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 275
To promote freedom of expression on the Internet, to protect United
States businesses from coercion to participate in repression by
authoritarian foreign governments, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 5, 2007
Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself and Mr. Wolf) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs,
and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To promote freedom of expression on the Internet, to protect United
States businesses from coercion to participate in repression by
authoritarian foreign governments, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Global Online
Freedom Act of 2007''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Severability.
TITLE I--PROMOTION OF GLOBAL INTERNET FREEDOM
Sec. 101. Statement of policy.
Sec. 102. Sense of Congress.
Sec. 103. Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.
Sec. 104. Office of Global Internet Freedom.
Sec. 105. Annual designation of Internet-restricting countries; report.
TITLE II--MINIMUM CORPORATE STANDARDS FOR ONLINE FREEDOM
Sec. 201. Protection of personally identifiable information.
Sec. 202. Integrity of personally identifiable information.
Sec. 203. Transparency regarding search engine filtering.
Sec. 204. Transparency regarding Internet censorship.
Sec. 205. Protection of United States-supported online content.
Sec. 206. Penalties.
Sec. 207. Presidential waiver.
TITLE III--EXPORT CONTROLS FOR INTERNET-RESTRICTING COUNTRIES
Sec. 301. Feasibility study on establishment of export controls.
Sec. 302. Report.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are
fundamental human rights, and free flow of information on the
Internet is protected in Article 19 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees freedom to
``receive and impart information and ideas through any media
regardless of frontiers''.
(2) The Internet has been a success because it quickly
provides information to its more than 972,000,000 users
globally.
(3) The growth of the Internet and other information
technologies can be a force for democratic change if the
information is not subject to political censorship.
(4) The Internet has played a role in bringing
international attention to issues the discussion of which are
forbidden by authoritarian foreign governments, such as
attempts by the Government of the People's Republic of China to
suppress news of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
outbreak in 2004.
(5) The rapid provision of full and uncensored information
through the Internet has become a major industry of the United
States, and one of its major exports.
(6) Political censorship of the Internet degrades the
quality of that service and ultimately threatens the integrity
and viability of the industry itself, both in the United States
and abroad.
(7) Authoritarian foreign governments such as the
Governments of Belarus, Cuba, Ethiopia, Iran, Laos, North
Korea, the People's Republic of China, Tunisia, and Vietnam
block, restrict, and monitor the information their citizens try
to obtain.
(8) Web sites that provide uncensored news and information,
such as the Web sites of the Voice of America and Radio Free
Asia, are routinely blocked in such countries.
(9) In June 2003, the Government of the Socialist Republic
of Vietnam arrested, convicted of ``spying'', and sentenced to
13 years imprisonment and 3 years house arrest (later reduced
on appeal to 5 years imprisonment and 3 years house arrest) Dr.
Pham Hong Son after he translated an Internet article titled
``What is Democracy'' from the Web site of the United States
Embassy in Vietnam.
(10) According to the Department of State's Country Reports
on Human Rights Practices, the Government of Vietnam in 2004
tightened control of the Internet, requiring Internet agents,
such as cyber cafes, to register the personal information of
their customers and store records of Internet sites visited by
customers. The Vietnamese Government also monitored electronic
mail, searched for sensitive key words, and regulated Internet
content.
(11) The Government of the People's Republic of China has
employed censorship of the Internet in violation of Article 35
of the Chinese Constitution, which guarantees freedom of
speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of
association, freedom of procession, and freedom of
demonstration.
(12) This censorship by the Chinese Government promotes,
perpetuates, and exacerbates a xenophobic--and at times
particularly anti-American--Chinese nationalism, the long-term
effect of which will be deleterious to United States efforts to
prevent the relationship between the United States and China
from becoming hostile.
(13) Technology companies in the United States that operate
in countries controlled by authoritarian foreign governments
have a moral responsibility to comply with the principles of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
(14) Technology companies in the United States have
succumbed to pressure by authoritarian foreign governments to
provide such governments with information about Internet users
that has led to the arrest and imprisonment of cyber
dissidents, in violation of the corporate responsibility of
such companies to protect and uphold human rights.
(15) Technology companies in the United States have
provided technology and training to authoritarian foreign
governments which have been used by such governments in
filtering and blocking information that promotes democracy and
freedom.
(16) Technology companies in the United States should
develop standards by which they can conduct business with
authoritarian foreign governments while protecting human rights
to freedom of speech and freedom of expression.
(17) The United States supports the universal right to
freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--Except as
otherwise provided in this Act, the term ``appropriate
congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on International Relations of the
House of Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the
Senate.
(2) Foreign official.--
(A) In general.--The term ``foreign official''
means--
(i) any officer or employee of a foreign
government or any department, agency, state-
owned enterprise, or instrumentality thereof;
or
(ii) any person acting in an official
capacity for or on behalf of any such
government or department, agency, state-owned
enterprise, or instrumentality.
(B) State-owned enterprise.--For purposes of
subparagraph (A), the term ``state-owned enterprise''
means a commercial entity in which a foreign government
owns, directly or indirectly, more than 50 percent of
the outstanding capital stock or other beneficial
interest in such commercial entity.
(3) Internet.--The term ``Internet'' means the combination
of computer facilities, telecommunications facilities,
electromagnetic transmission media, and related equipment and
software, comprising the interconnected worldwide network of
computer networks that employ the Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol or any successor protocol to
transmit information.
(4) Internet content hosting service.--The terms ``Internet
content hosting service'' and ``content hosting service'' mean
a service that--
(A) stores, through electromagnetic or other means,
electronic data, including the content of Web pages,
electronic mail, documents, images, audio and video
files, online discussion boards, and Web logs; and
(B) makes such data available via the Internet.
(5) Internet jamming.--The term ``Internet jamming'' means
jamming, censoring, blocking, monitoring, or restricting access
to the Internet, or to content made available via the Internet,
by using technologies such as firewalls, filters, and ``black
boxes''.
(6) Internet-restricting country.--The term ``Internet-
restricting country'' means a country designated by the
President pursuant to section 105(a) of this Act.
(7) Internet search engine.--The term ``Internet search
engine'' or ``search engine'' means a service made available
via the Internet that, on the basis of query consisting of
terms, concepts, questions, or other data input by a user,
searches information available on the Internet and returns to
the user a means, such as a hyperlinked list of Uniform
Resource Identifiers, of locating, viewing, or downloading
information or data available on the Internet relating to that
query.
(8) Legitimate foreign law enforcement purposes.--
(A) In general.--The term ``legitimate foreign law
enforcement purposes'' means for purposes of
enforcement, investigation, or prosecution by a foreign
official based on a publicly promulgated law of
reasonable specificity that proximately relates to the
protection or promotion of the health, safety, or
morals of the citizens of that jurisdiction.
(B) Rule of construction.--For purposes of this
Act, the control, suppression, or punishment of
peaceful expression of political or religious opinion,
which is protected by Article 19 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, does not
constitute a legitimate foreign law enforcement
purpose.
(9) Personally identifiable information.--The term
``personally identifiable information''--
(A) includes any information described in section
2703(c)(2) of title 18, United States Code; and
(B) does not include--
(i) any traffic data (as such term is
defined in section 201(b) of this Act); or
(ii) any record of aggregate data that does
not identify particular persons.
(10) Substantial restrictions on internet freedom.--The
term ``substantial restrictions on Internet freedom'' means
actions that restrict or punish the free availability of
information via the Internet for reasons other than legitimate
foreign law enforcement purposes, including--
(A) deliberately blocking, filtering, or censoring
information available via the Internet based on its
peaceful political or religious content; or
(B) persecuting, prosecuting, or otherwise
punishing an individual or group for posting or
transmitting peaceful political or religious opinions
via the Internet, including by electronic mail.
(11) United states business.--The term ``United States
business'' means--
(A) any corporation, partnership, association,
joint-stock company, business trust, unincorporated
organization, or sole proprietorship that--
(i) has its principal place of business in
the United States; or
(ii) is organized under the laws of a State
of the United States or a territory,
possession, or commonwealth of the United
States;
(B) any issuer of a security registered pursuant to
section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15
U.S.C. 78l); and
(C) any foreign subsidiary of an entity described
in subparagraph (A) or (B) to the extent such entity--
(i) controls the voting shares or other
equities of the foreign subsidiary; or
(ii) authorizes, directs, controls, or
participates in acts carried out by the foreign
subsidiary that are prohibited by this Act.
(12) United states-supported content.--The term ``United
States-supported content'' means content that is created or
developed, in whole or in part, by a United States-supported
information entity.
(13) United states-supported information entity.--The term
``United States-supported information entity'' means--
(A) any authority of the Government of the United
States; and
(B) any entity that--
(i) receives grants from the Broadcasting
Board of Governors to carry out international
broadcasting activities in accordance with the
United States International Broadcasting Act of
1994 (title III of Public Law 103-236; 22
U.S.C. 6201 et seq.);
(ii) in coordination with the International
Broadcasting Bureau, carries out all
nonmilitary international broadcasting
activities supported by the Government of the
United States in accordance with such Act
(other than the international broadcasting
activities supported by the Broadcasting Board
of Governors as specified in such Act); or
(iii) receives grants or other similar
funding from the Government of the United
States to carry out any information
dissemination activities.
(14) United states-supported web site.--The term ``United
States-supported Web site'' means a location on the World Wide
Web that is owned or managed by, or is registered to, a United
States-supported information entity.
SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision of this Act, or the application of such provision
to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of this
Act, and the application of such provision to other persons not
similarly situated or to other circumstances, shall not be affected by
such invalidation.
TITLE I--PROMOTION OF GLOBAL INTERNET FREEDOM
SEC. 101. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It shall be the policy of the United States--
(1) to promote as a fundamental component of United States
foreign policy the right of everyone to freedom of opinion and
expression, including the freedom to hold opinions without
interference and to seek, receive, and impart information and
ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers;
(2) to use all appropriate instruments of United States
influence, including diplomacy, trade policy, and export
controls, to support, promote, and strengthen principles,
practices, and values that promote the free flow of
information, including through the Internet and other
electronic media; and
(3) to deter any United States business from cooperating
with officials of Internet-restricting countries in effecting
the political censorship of online content.
SEC. 102. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the President should through bilateral, and where
appropriate, multilateral activities, seek to obtain the
agreement of other countries to promote the goals and
objectives of this Act and to protect Internet freedom; and
(2) to the extent that a United States business empowers or
assists an authoritarian foreign government in its efforts to
restrict online access to the Web sites of Radio Free Asia, the
Voice of America, or other United States-supported Web sites
and online access to United States Government reports such as
the Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, the
Annual Reports on International Religious Freedom, and the
Annual Trafficking in Human Persons Reports, that business is
working contrary to the foreign policy interests of the United
States, and is undercutting United States taxpayer-funded
efforts to promote freedom of information for all people,
including those in undemocratic and repressive societies.
SEC. 103. ANNUAL COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES.
(a) Report Relating to Economic Assistance.--Section 116 of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n) is amended by adding
at the end the following new subsection:
``(g)(1) The report required by subsection (d) shall include an
assessment of the freedom of electronic information in each foreign
country. Such assessment shall include the following:
``(A) An assessment of the general extent to which Internet
access is available to and used by citizens in that country.
``(B) An assessment of the extent to which government
authorities in that country attempt to filter, censor, or
otherwise block Internet content, as well as a description of
the means by which they attempt to block such content.
``(C) A description of known instances in which government
authorities in that country have persecuted, prosecuted, or
otherwise punished a person or group for the peaceful
expression of political, religious, or dissenting views via the
Internet, including electronic mail.
``(2) In compiling data and making assessments for the purposes of
paragraph (1), United States diplomatic mission personnel shall consult
with human rights organizations and other appropriate nongovernmental
organizations.''.
(b) Report Relating to Security Assistance.--Section 502B of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2304) is amended by adding at
the end the following new subsection:
``(i)(1) The report required by subsection (b) shall include an
assessment of the freedom of electronic information in each foreign
country. Such assessment shall include the following:
``(A) An assessment of the general extent to which Internet
access is available to and used by citizens in that country.
``(B) An assessment of the extent to which government
authorities in that country attempt to filter, censor, or
otherwise block Internet content, as well as a description of
the means by which they attempt to block such content.
``(C) A description of known instances in which government
authorities in that country have persecuted, prosecuted, or
otherwise punished a person or group for the peaceful
expression of political, religious, or dissenting views via the
Internet, including electronic mail.
``(2) In compiling data and making assessments for the purposes of
paragraph (1), United States diplomatic mission personnel shall consult
with human rights organizations and other appropriate nongovernmental
organizations.''.
SEC. 104. OFFICE OF GLOBAL INTERNET FREEDOM.
(a) Establishment.--There is established in the Department of State
the Office of Global Internet Freedom (in this section referred to as
the ``Office'').
(b) Duties.--In addition to such other responsibilities as the
President may assign, the Office shall--
(1) serve as the focal point for interagency efforts to
protect and promote freedom of electronic information abroad;
(2) develop and ensure the implementation of a global
strategy and programs to combat state-sponsored and state-
directed Internet jamming by authoritarian foreign governments,
and the intimidation and persecution by such governments of
their citizens who use the Internet;
(3) provide assistance to the President in connection with
the annual designation of Internet-restricting countries
required by section 105(a) of this Act;
(4) beginning not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act--
(A) identify key words, terms, and phrases relating
to human rights, democracy, religious free exercise,
and peaceful political dissent, both in general and as
specifically related to the particular context and
circumstances of each Internet-restricting country; and
(B) maintain, update, and make publicly available
on a regular basis the key words, terms, and phrases
identified pursuant to subparagraph (A);
(5) establish mechanisms by which United States businesses
can transmit to the Office the information required to be
reported by sections 203 and 204 of this Act;
(6) establish a regularized consultative process with
appropriate technology companies involved in providing,
maintaining, or servicing the Internet, human rights
organizations, academic experts, and others to develop a
voluntary code of minimum corporate standards related to
Internet freedom, and to consult with such companies,
organizations, experts, and others regarding new technologies
and the implementation of appropriate policies relating to such
technologies; and
(7) advise the appropriate congressional committees of
legislative action that may be necessary to keep the provisions
of this Act and the amendments made by this Act relevant to
changing technologies.
(c) Cooperation of Other Federal Departments and Agencies.--Each
department and agency of the Government of the United States, including
the Department of Commerce, the Office of the United States Trade
Representative, the Department of Justice, the International
Broadcasting Bureau, and the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence, shall--
(1) cooperate fully with, and assist in the implementation
of, the duties of the Office described in subsection (b),
including the strategy developed by the Office pursuant to
paragraph (2) of subsection (b); and
(2) make such resources and information available to the
Office on a nonreimbursable basis as is necessary to achieve
the purposes of this Act and the amendments made by this Act.
(d) Definition.--In this section, the term ``appropriate
congressional committees'' means--
(1) the Committee on International Relations and the
Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of
Representatives; and
(2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate.
(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Office to carry out this section $50,000,000 for
each of the fiscal years 2008 and 2009.
SEC. 105. ANNUAL DESIGNATION OF INTERNET-RESTRICTING COUNTRIES; REPORT.
(a) Designation.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the
President shall designate Internet-restricting countries for
purposes of this Act.
(2) Standard.--A foreign country shall be designated as an
Internet-restricting country if the President determines that
the government of the country is directly or indirectly
responsible for a systematic pattern of substantial
restrictions on Internet freedom during the preceding 1-year
period.
(3) Initial designees.--
(A) In general.--Each of the countries specified in
subparagraph (B) shall be deemed to be designated as an
Internet-restricting country pursuant to paragraph (1)
beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act and
ending on the date on which the President certifies to
the appropriate congressional committees that the
country involved is no longer directly or indirectly
responsible for a systematic pattern of substantial
restrictions on Internet freedom.
(B) Countries.--The countries referred to in
subparagraph (A) are Belarus, Cuba, Ethiopia, Iran,
Laos, North Korea, the People's Republic of China,
Tunisia, and Vietnam.
(b) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the
President shall transmit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report that contains the following:
(A) The name of each foreign country that at the
time of the transmission of the report is designated as
an Internet-restricting country pursuant to subsection
(a).
(B) An identification of each government agency and
quasi-government organization responsible for the
substantial restrictions on Internet freedom in each
foreign country designated as an Internet-restricting
country pursuant to subsection (a).
(C) A description of efforts by the United States
to counter the substantial restrictions on Internet
freedom referred to in subparagraph (B).
(2) Form.--The information required by paragraph (1)(C) of
the report may be provided in a classified form if necessary.
(3) Internet availability.--All unclassified portions of
the report shall be made publicly available on the Internet Web
site of the Department of State.
TITLE II--MINIMUM CORPORATE STANDARDS FOR ONLINE FREEDOM
SEC. 201. PROTECTION OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION.
(a) Prohibition of Locating Personally Identifiable Information in
Internet-Restricting Countries.--A United States business may not
locate, within a designated Internet-restricting country, any
electronic communication that contains any personally identifiable
information.
(b) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Title 18 definitions.--The terms ``electronic
communication'', ``electronic communications system'',
``electronic storage'', and ``contents'' have the meanings
given such terms in section 2510 of title 18, United States
Code.
(2) Locate.--The term ``locate'' includes, with respect to
an electronic communication--
(A) computer storage or processing by facilities of
a remote computing service, as such term is defined in
section 2711 of title 18, United States Code;
(B) electronic storage by any electronic or
computer server or facility of an electronic
communications system; and
(C) any other storage by any electronic or computer
server or facility.
(3) Traffic data.--The term ``traffic data'' means, with
respect to an electronic communication, any information
contained in or relating to such communication that is
processed for the purpose of the conveyance of the
communication by an electronic communications system or for the
billing thereof, including any Internet Protocol address or
other means of identifying a location within an electronic
communications system, but that does not by itself identify a
particular person. Such term does not include the contents of
any electronic communication.
SEC. 202. INTEGRITY OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION.
(a) User Protection.--If a United States business collects or
obtains personally identifiable information through the provision of
products or services on the Internet, such business may not provide
such information to any foreign official of an Internet-restricting
country, except for legitimate foreign law enforcement purposes as
determined by the Department of Justice.
(b) Use of Established Legal Channels.--Any information that may be
provided under subsection (a) for legitimate foreign law enforcement
purposes may only be provided through established legal channels as
determined by the Department of Justice.
(c) Private Right of Action.--Any person aggrieved by a violation
of this section may bring an action for damages, including punitive
damages, or other appropriate relief in the appropriate district court
of the United States, without regard to the amount in controversy, and
without regard to the citizenship of the parties.
SEC. 203. TRANSPARENCY REGARDING SEARCH ENGINE FILTERING.
Any United States business that creates, provides, or hosts an
Internet search engine shall provide the Office of Global Internet
Freedom, in a format and with a frequency to be specified by the
Office, with all terms and parameters used to filter, limit, or
otherwise affect the results provided by the search engine that are
implemented--
(1) at the request of, or by reason of any other direct or
indirect communication by, any foreign official of an Internet-
restricting country; or
(2) to comply with a policy or practice of restrictions on
Internet freedom in an Internet-restricting country.
SEC. 204. TRANSPARENCY REGARDING INTERNET CENSORSHIP.
(a) Provision of URLs.--Any United States business that maintains
an Internet content hosting service shall provide the Office of Global
Internet Freedom, in a format and with a frequency to be specified by
the Office, with the Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) of all data and
content that such business has, under the circumstances set forth in
subsection (b)--
(1) removed from the content hosting service of such
business;
(2) blocked from availability on the Internet; or
(3) blocked from transmission via the Internet into or
within an Internet-restricting country.
(b) Circumstances.--The circumstances referred to in subsection (a)
are that the United States business took the action under subsection
(a)--
(1) at the request of, or by reason of any other direct or
indirect communication by, any foreign official of an Internet-
restricting country; or
(2) in order to comply with a policy or practice of
restrictions on Internet freedom in an Internet-restricting
country.
SEC. 205. PROTECTION OF UNITED STATES-SUPPORTED ONLINE CONTENT.
A United States business that maintains an Internet content hosting
service may not conduct Internet jamming of a United States-supported
Web site or United States-supported content in an Internet-restricting
country.
SEC. 206. PENALTIES.
(a) Civil Penalties.--(1)(A) Any United States business that
violates section 202(a) shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more
than $2,000,000 imposed in an action brought by the Attorney General.
(B) Any officer, director, employee, or agent, or stockholder of a
United States business, who is acting on behalf of that business
concern and who violates section 202(a), shall be subject to a civil
penalty of not more $100,000 imposed in an action brought by the
Attorney General.
(2) Any United States business that violates section 201, 203, 204,
or 205, or any officer, director, employee, or agent, or stockholder of
a United States business, who is acting on behalf of that business
concern and who violates section 201, 203, 204, or 205, shall be
subject to a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 imposed in an
action brought by the Attorney General.
(b) Criminal Penalties.--(1)(A) Any United States business that
willfully violates, or willfully attempts to violate, section 202(a)
shall be fined not more than $2,000,000.
(B) Any officer, director, employee, or agent, or stockholder of a
United States business, who is acting on behalf of that business
concern, and who willfully violates, or willfully attempts to violate,
section 202(a), shall be fined not more than $100,000, or imprisoned
not more than 5 years, or both.
(2)(A) Any United States business that willfully violates, or
willfully attempts to violate, section 201, 203, 204, or 205 shall be
fined not more than $10,000.
(B) Any officer, director, employee, or agent, or stockholder of a
United States business, who is acting on behalf of that business
concern and who willfully violates, or willfully attempts to violate,
section 201, 203, 204, or 205, shall be fined not more than $10,000, or
imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both.
(c) Payment of Fines.--Whenever a fine is imposed under subsection
(a) or (b) upon any officer, director, employee, agent, or stockholder
of a United States business, the fine may not be paid, directly or
indirectly, by the United States business.
SEC. 207. PRESIDENTIAL WAIVER.
(a) In General.--Subject to subsection (b), the President may waive
the application of any of the provisions of sections 201 through 205
with respect to a United States business or an Internet-restricting
country, if the President determines and so reports to the appropriate
congressional committees that--
(1) the government of the country has ceased the activities
giving rise to the designation of the country as an Internet-
restricting country;
(2) the exercise of such waiver authority would further the
purposes of this Act; or
(3) the important national interest of the United States
requires the exercise of such waiver authority.
(b) Congressional Notification.--Not later than the date of the
exercise of a waiver under subsection (a), the President shall notify
the appropriate congressional committees of the waiver or the intention
to exercise the waiver, together with a detailed justification for the
waiver.
TITLE III--EXPORT CONTROLS FOR INTERNET-RESTRICTING COUNTRIES
SEC. 301. FEASIBILITY STUDY ON ESTABLISHMENT OF EXPORT CONTROLS.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of
State, shall complete a feasibility study regarding the development of
export license requirements regarding the export of any item subject to
sections 730 through 774 of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations
(commonly known as the ``Export Administration Regulations'') to an end
user in an Internet-restricting country for the purpose, in whole or in
part, of facilitating substantial restrictions on Internet freedom.
SEC. 302. REPORT.
Not later than 30 days after the end of the 180-day period
described in section 301, the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation
with the Secretary of State, shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a report describing the actions taken to carry
out section 301.
<all>