[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6352 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6352
To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide a process
to lock and suspend domain names used to facilitate the online sale of
drugs illegally, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 30, 2021
Mr. McKinley (for himself and Mr. Rush) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide a process
to lock and suspend domain names used to facilitate the online sale of
drugs illegally, 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 ``Domain Reform for Unlawful Drug
Sellers Act'' or the ``DRUGS Act''.
SEC. 2. DOMAIN NAMES USED TO FACILITATE THE ONLINE SALE OF DRUGS
ILLEGALLY.
(a) In General.--Subchapter A of chapter V of the Federal Food,
Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 351 et seq.) is amended by adding at
the end the following:
``SEC. 524B. DOMAIN NAMES USED TO FACILITATE THE ONLINE SALE OF DRUGS
ILLEGALLY.
``(a) In General.--A registry operator or registrar shall--
``(1) not later than 24 hours after receipt of a
notification from a trusted notifier respecting a domain name
used to facilitate the online sale of drugs illegally that is
under the control of the registry operator or registrar, lock
the domain name; and
``(2) not later than 7 days after receipt of such
notification, suspend the domain name.
``(b) Notice.--For purposes of subsection (a), a notification shall
include, at a minimum--
``(1) the domain name being reported;
``(2) the date the alleged violations described in
subsection (e)(2) were observed;
``(3) a summary of the alleged violations; and
``(4) a statement that evidence of offering drugs
illegally, such as a screenshot, has been retained, and is
available to be shared with the registry operator or registrar.
``(c) Registrant Appeal.--
``(1) In general.--Any registrant whose domain name is
locked and suspended pursuant to subsection (a) may appeal such
action to the trusted notifier pursuant to paragraph (2). The
domain name shall remain locked and suspended until a final
determination of the merits of the appeal has been made.
``(2) Appeals.--
``(A) In general.--In bringing such an appeal, the
registrant for the locked and suspended domain name may
do any of the following:
``(i) Contact the applicable registry
operator or registrar to request information
regarding the business name, or personal name
if the trusted notifier is not a business, and
the email address, of the trusted notifier who
submitted the notification regarding the domain
name.
``(ii) Dispute the notification by
submitting the following to the applicable
trusted notifier:
``(I) A copy of the registrant's
pharmacy licenses for all jurisdictions
where it offered to ship prescription
medicines at the time of the
notification where such licensure is
legally required in such jurisdiction,
or a copy of registrant's affiliated
pharmacy's licenses for all
jurisdictions where the registrant
offered to facilitate the shipment of
prescription medicines at the time of
the notification where such licensure
is legally required in such
jurisdiction.
``(II) The license information of
the medical practitioner involved in
issuing the prescription facilitated in
part by the registrant's domain name
where practitioner licensure is legally
required in such jurisdiction.
``(B) Provision of information.--Within 15 days
after receiving a request under subparagraph (A)(i), a
registry operator or registrar shall provide the
requested information.
``(C) Investigation.--The applicable trusted
notifier shall--
``(i) conduct a reasonable investigation
regarding the registrant and its domain name to
determine whether notification under subsection
(a) was improper; and
``(ii) in conducting such investigation,
consider the information provided by the
registrant under subparagraph (A).
``(D) Successful appeal.--If the appeal is
successful, the registry operator or registrar shall
lift the suspension and unlock the domain name within
15 days.
``(d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section prohibits a
registry operator or registrar from locking and suspending a domain
name used to facilitate the online sale of drugs illegally before
receipt of a notification under this section from a trusted notifier.
``(e) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Domain name.--The term `domain name' means a name
that--
``(A) identifies a specific location on the
internet that belongs to a particular person; and
``(B) consists of two or more textual segments
separated by dots.
``(2) Domain name used to facilitate the online sale of
drugs illegally.--The term `domain name used to facilitate the
online sale of drugs illegally' means a domain name that
identifies a location on the internet the primary or a
significant purpose of which is to introduce or deliver for
introduction into interstate commerce a drug or controlled
substance in violation of this Act or the Controlled Substances
Act.
``(3) Lock.--The term `lock' means, with respect to a
domain name, for the registry operator or registrar to
systematically prevent the domain name from being updated,
transferred, or deleted during the balance of the registration
of the domain name, which may be achieved using domain name
registration protocols.
``(4) Prescription drug.--The term `prescription drug'
means a drug subject to section 503(b)(1).
``(5) Registrar.--The term `registrar' means an
organization that--
``(A) manages the registration of domain names; and
``(B) during the registration process--
``(i) verifies that the requested domain
name meets registry requirements; and
``(ii) submits the name to the appropriate
registry operator.
``(6) Registry.--The term `registry' means an authoritative
master database of the domain names registered in a top-level
domain.
``(7) Registry operator.--The term `registry operator'
means an organization that maintains a registry, including by--
``(A) receiving requests from registrars to add,
delete, or modify domain names; and
``(B) making the requested changes in the registry.
``(8) Suspend.--The term `suspend' means, with respect to a
domain name, for the registry operator or registrar to
systematically disable the functionality of the domain name
through a hold or suspension during the balance of the
registration of the domain name, which may be achieved using
domain name registration protocols.
``(9) Trusted notifier.--The term `trusted notifier'
includes the following (and the designees and agents thereof):
``(A) The Food and Drug Administration.
``(B) The Department of Justice, including the Drug
Enforcement Administration.
``(C) The Department of Homeland Security.
``(D) A State attorney general.
``(E) A State board of pharmacy.
``(F) A nonprofit organization with a membership or
governance comprised exclusively of representatives
of--
``(i) agencies or officials specified in
any of subparagraphs (A) through (E); or
``(ii) similarly positioned (as determined
by the Commissioner of Food and Drugs) agencies
or officials.
``(G) Any entity currently under contract or in a
public-private partnership with the Food and Drug
Administration or the Drug Enforcement Agency to share
information related to online drug sales.
``(H) Any other entity identified by the Food and
Drug Administration as a trusted notifier for purposes
of this section, taking into consideration, at minimum,
whether the entity--
``(i) is registered to do business in the
United States;
``(ii) agrees to share notification data,
upon request, with the Food and Drug
Administration and the Drug Enforcement Agency;
``(iii) does not knowingly or with willful
ignorance approve or do business with entities
that fail to adhere to the regulations of the
Food and Drug Administration or the Drug
Enforcement Agency; and
``(iv) has published on the website of such
entity policies and procedures for how the
entity will issue notifications under
subsection (a).''.
(b) Prohibited Act.--Section 301 of the Federal Food, Drug, and
Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 331) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(fff) The failure by a registry operator or registrar to lock and
suspend any domain name in its control in violation of section 524B.''.
(c) Applicability.--Sections 301(fff) and 524B of the Federal Food,
Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as added by this section, shall apply beginning
on the date that is 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
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