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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10696 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 10696
To prohibit providers of streaming services from advertising ad-free
services and later adding ads, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 1, 2026
Mr. Riley of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit providers of streaming services from advertising ad-free
services and later adding ads, 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.
This Act may be cited as the ``Ad-Free Means Ad-Free Act''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION AGAINST DECEPTIVE PRACTICES.
(a) Prohibition.--Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Federal Trade Commission shall promulgate
regulations under section 553 of title 5, United States Code, that--
(1) prohibit a provider of a video streaming service from
offering or advertising services as not including
advertisements and, within one year of the initial subscription
date or the total length of the contract (whichever is longer),
adding advertisements to the service for any subscriber who
enrolled in an option that purported to not include
advertisements; and
(2) if such a subscriber cancels and re-enrolls in such a
subscription, prohibit such a provider from adding
advertisements to the relevant service within one year of the
re-enrollment date or the total length of the contract
(whichever is longer).
(b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be construed
as excluding a provider of video streaming services from the
prohibition described under subsection (a) because the services are
offered to a consumer through a third party.
(c) Enforcement by Federal Trade Commission.--
(1) Unfair or deceptive acts or practices.--A violation of
subsection (a) or a regulation promulgated under such
subsection shall be treated as a violation of a regulation
under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act
(15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or
practices.
(2) Powers of commission.--The Federal Trade Commission
shall enforce subsection (a) and any regulation promulgated
under such subsection in the same manner, by the same means,
and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though
all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade
Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into
and made a part of this Act. Any person who violates such
subsection or a regulation promulgated under such subsection
shall be subject to the penalties and entitled to the
privileges and immunities provided in the Federal Trade
Commission Act.
(d) Video Streaming Service Defined.--In this section, the term
``video streaming service'' means an entity that makes available
through a paid subscription directly to the end user through a
distribution method that uses internet protocol to show media directly
to viewers that is--
(1) video programming; or
(2) video content the entity makes available for users to
view.
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