diff --git a/cassandra/__init__.py b/cassandra/__init__.py
index e69de29b..a79680f5 100644
--- a/cassandra/__init__.py
+++ b/cassandra/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+__version__ = '0.0.1-alpha'
+__version_info__ = (0, 0, 1)
+
+
+class ConsistencyLevel(object):
+
+    ANY = 0
+    ONE = 1
+    TWO = 2
+    THREE = 3
+    QUORUM = 4
+    ALL = 5
+    LOCAL_QUORUM = 6
+    EACH_QUORUM = 7
+
+ConsistencyLevel.value_to_name = {
+    ConsistencyLevel.ANY: 'ANY',
+    ConsistencyLevel.ONE: 'ONE',
+    ConsistencyLevel.TWO: 'TWO',
+    ConsistencyLevel.THREE: 'THREE',
+    ConsistencyLevel.QUORUM: 'QUORUM',
+    ConsistencyLevel.ALL: 'ALL',
+    ConsistencyLevel.LOCAL_QUORUM: 'LOCAL_QUORUM',
+    ConsistencyLevel.EACH_QUORUM: 'EACH_QUORUM'
+}
+
+ConsistencyLevel.name_to_value = {
+    'ANY': ConsistencyLevel.ANY,
+    'ONE': ConsistencyLevel.ONE,
+    'TWO': ConsistencyLevel.TWO,
+    'THREE': ConsistencyLevel.THREE,
+    'QUORUM': ConsistencyLevel.QUORUM,
+    'ALL': ConsistencyLevel.ALL,
+    'LOCAL_QUORUM': ConsistencyLevel.LOCAL_QUORUM,
+    'EACH_QUORUM': ConsistencyLevel.EACH_QUORUM
+}
diff --git a/cassandra/cluster.py b/cassandra/cluster.py
index 32cab35e..9bbb2908 100644
--- a/cassandra/cluster.py
+++ b/cassandra/cluster.py
@@ -6,8 +6,9 @@ import Queue
 import weakref
 from functools import partial
 
+from cassandra import ConsistencyLevel
 from cassandra.connection import Connection, ConnectionException
-from cassandra.decoder import (ConsistencyLevel, QueryMessage, ResultMessage,
+from cassandra.decoder import (QueryMessage, ResultMessage,
                                ErrorMessage, ReadTimeoutErrorMessage,
                                WriteTimeoutErrorMessage,
                                UnavailableErrorMessage,
diff --git a/cassandra/connection.py b/cassandra/connection.py
index 78237f8a..6d86a4ab 100644
--- a/cassandra/connection.py
+++ b/cassandra/connection.py
@@ -8,12 +8,11 @@ import socket
 from threading import RLock, Event, Lock, Thread
 import traceback
 
-
+from cassandra import ConsistencyLevel
 from cassandra.marshal import (int8_unpack, int32_unpack)
 from cassandra.decoder import (OptionsMessage, ReadyMessage, AuthenticateMessage,
                                StartupMessage, ErrorMessage, CredentialsMessage,
-                               QueryMessage, ResultMessage, ConsistencyLevel,
-                               decode_response)
+                               QueryMessage, ResultMessage, decode_response)
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
diff --git a/cassandra/decoder.py b/cassandra/decoder.py
index 8b8c9191..4d4cb8d3 100644
--- a/cassandra/decoder.py
+++ b/cassandra/decoder.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ try:
 except ImportError:
     from StringIO import StringIO  # ignore flake8 warning: # NOQA
 
+from cassandra import ConsistencyLevel
 from cassandra.marshal import (int32_pack, int32_unpack, uint16_pack, uint16_unpack,
                                int8_pack, int8_unpack)
 from cassandra.types import lookup_cqltype
@@ -45,40 +46,6 @@ def warn(msg):
     print msg
 
 
-class ConsistencyLevel(object):
-
-    ANY = 0
-    ONE = 1
-    TWO = 2
-    THREE = 3
-    QUORUM = 4
-    ALL = 5
-    LOCAL_QUORUM = 6
-    EACH_QUORUM = 7
-
-ConsistencyLevel.value_to_name = {
-    ConsistencyLevel.ANY: 'ANY',
-    ConsistencyLevel.ONE: 'ONE',
-    ConsistencyLevel.TWO: 'TWO',
-    ConsistencyLevel.THREE: 'THREE',
-    ConsistencyLevel.QUORUM: 'QUORUM',
-    ConsistencyLevel.ALL: 'ALL',
-    ConsistencyLevel.LOCAL_QUORUM: 'LOCAL_QUORUM',
-    ConsistencyLevel.EACH_QUORUM: 'EACH_QUORUM'
-}
-
-ConsistencyLevel.name_to_value = {
-    'ANY': ConsistencyLevel.ANY,
-    'ONE': ConsistencyLevel.ONE,
-    'TWO': ConsistencyLevel.TWO,
-    'THREE': ConsistencyLevel.THREE,
-    'QUORUM': ConsistencyLevel.QUORUM,
-    'ALL': ConsistencyLevel.ALL,
-    'LOCAL_QUORUM': ConsistencyLevel.LOCAL_QUORUM,
-    'EACH_QUORUM': ConsistencyLevel.EACH_QUORUM
-}
-
-
 class PreparedResult:
     def __init__(self, queryid, param_metadata):
         self.queryid = queryid
diff --git a/cassandra/marshal.py b/cassandra/marshal.py
index b2758a41..51010891 100644
--- a/cassandra/marshal.py
+++ b/cassandra/marshal.py
@@ -1,19 +1,3 @@
-# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
-# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
-# distributed with this work for additional information
-# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
-# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
-# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
-# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
-#
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
 import struct
 
 def _make_packer(format_string):
diff --git a/cassandra/policies.py b/cassandra/policies.py
index fab6d8c6..77eb448f 100644
--- a/cassandra/policies.py
+++ b/cassandra/policies.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ from itertools import islice, cycle, groupby, repeat
 from random import randint
 from threading import RLock
 
-from decoder import ConsistencyLevel
+from cassandra import ConsistencyLevel
 
 class HostDistance(object):
 
diff --git a/cassandra/query.py b/cassandra/query.py
index 0da16759..9ef8ddb5 100644
--- a/cassandra/query.py
+++ b/cassandra/query.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import struct
 
-from decoder import ConsistencyLevel
+from cassandra import ConsistencyLevel
 
 class Query(object):
 
diff --git a/tests/test_cluster.py b/tests/test_cluster.py
index cd6ee784..9abd6cf1 100644
--- a/tests/test_cluster.py
+++ b/tests/test_cluster.py
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 import unittest
 from mock import Mock, ANY
 
+from cassandra import ConsistencyLevel
 from cassandra.cluster import Cluster, Session, ResponseFuture, NoHostAvailable
 from cassandra.connection import ConnectionException
 from cassandra.decoder import (ReadTimeoutErrorMessage, WriteTimeoutErrorMessage,
                                UnavailableErrorMessage, ResultMessage, QueryMessage,
-                               OverloadedErrorMessage, ConsistencyLevel)
+                               OverloadedErrorMessage)
 from cassandra.policies import RetryPolicy
 from cassandra.pool import NoConnectionsAvailable
 from cassandra.query import SimpleStatement
diff --git a/tests/test_connection.py b/tests/test_connection.py
index 9b068a50..e533c4e8 100644
--- a/tests/test_connection.py
+++ b/tests/test_connection.py
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@ import unittest
 from functools import partial
 from threading import Thread, Event
 
-from cassandra.decoder import QueryMessage, ConsistencyLevel
+from cassandra import ConsistencyLevel
+from cassandra.decoder import QueryMessage
 from cassandra.connection import Connection
 
 class ConnectionTest(unittest.TestCase):
diff --git a/tests/test_control_connection.py b/tests/test_control_connection.py
index 834b31e8..27853e5f 100644
--- a/tests/test_control_connection.py
+++ b/tests/test_control_connection.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import unittest
 
 from cassandra.decoder import ResultMessage
-from cassandra.cluster import _ControlConnection, Cluster
+from cassandra.cluster import ControlConnection, Cluster
 from cassandra.pool import Host
 from cassandra.policies import SimpleConvictionPolicy
 
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ class ControlConnectionTest(unittest.TestCase):
         self.connection = MockConnection()
         self.time = FakeTime()
 
-        self.control_connection = _ControlConnection(self.cluster)
+        self.control_connection = ControlConnection(self.cluster)
         self.control_connection._connection = self.connection
         self.control_connection._time = self.time
 
diff --git a/tests/test_policies.py b/tests/test_policies.py
index e146f6f1..7a6c29fe 100644
--- a/tests/test_policies.py
+++ b/tests/test_policies.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import unittest
 from threading import Thread
 
-from cassandra.decoder import ConsistencyLevel
+from cassandra import ConsistencyLevel
 from cassandra.policies import (RoundRobinPolicy, DCAwareRoundRobinPolicy,
                                 SimpleConvictionPolicy, HostDistance,
                                 ExponentialReconnectionPolicy, RetryPolicy,