110 STAT. 96 PUBLIC LAW 104-104—FEB. 8, 1996 "(4) PLANNING INFORMATION. —Each Bell operating company shall provide, to interconnecting carriers providing telephone exchange service, timely information on the planned deployment of telecommunications equipment. "(d) MANUFACTURING LIMITATIONS FOR STANDARD-SETTING ORGANIZATIONS. — "(1) APPLICATION TO BELL COMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH OR MANUFACTURERS. — Bell Communications Research, Inc., or any successor entity or affiliate— "(A) shall not be considered a Bell operating company or a successor or assign of a Bell operating company at such time as it is no longer an affiliate of any Bell operating company; and "(B) notwithstanding paragraph (3), shall not engage in manufacturing telecommunications equipment or customer premises equipment as long as it is an affiliate of more than 1 otherwise unaffiliated Bell operating company or successor or assign of any such company. Nothing in this subsection prohibits Bell Communications Research, Inc., or any successor entity, from engaging in any activity in which it is lawfully engaged on the date of enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Nothing provided in this subsection shall render Bell Communications Research, Inc., or any successor entity, a common carrier under title II of this Act. Nothing in this subsection restricts any manufacturer from engaging in any activity in which it is lawfully engaged on the date of enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. "(2) PROPRIETARY INFORMATION. —Any entity which establishes standards for telecommunications equipment or customer premises equipment, or generic network requirements for such equipment, or certifies telecommunications equipment or customer premises equipment, shall be prohibited from releasing or otherwise using any proprietary information, designated as such by its owner, in its possession as a result of such activity, for any purpose other than purposes authorized in writing by the owner of such information, even after such entity ceases to be so engaged. "(3) MANUFACTURING SAFEGUARDS. —(A) Except as prohibited in paragraph (1), and subject to paragraph (6), any entity which certifies telecommunications equipment or customer premises equipment manufactured by an unaffiliated entity shall only manufacture a particular class of telecommunications equipment or customer premises equipment for which it is undertaking or has undertaken, during the previous 18 months, certification activity for such class of equipment through a separate affiliate. "(B) Such separate affiliate shall— Records. "(i) maintain books, records, and accounts separate from those of the entity that certifies such equipment, consistent with generally acceptable accounting principles; "(ii) not engage in any joint manufacturing activities with such entity; and "(iii) have segregated facilities and separate employees with such entity. "(C) Such entity that certifies such equipment shall—
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