I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3754

To provide additional civil and criminal remedies for domain name fraud. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 3, 2004

Mr. SMITH of Texas (for himself and Mr. BERMAN) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL

To provide additional civil and criminal remedies for domain 

name fraud.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fraudulent Online 

5 Identity Sanctions Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO TRADEMARK ACT OF 1946. 

7 Section 35 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for 

8 the registration and protection of trademarks used in com9 merce, to carry out the provisions of certain international 

10 conventions, and for other purposes’’, approved July 5, 

11 1946 (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Trademark Act of 
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1 1946’’; 15 U.S.C. 1117), is amended by adding at the end 

2 the following new subsection: 

3 ‘‘(e) In a case of a violation referred to in this section, 

4 occurring at or in connection with an online location, the 

5 violation shall be considered to be willful for purposes of 

6 this section if the violator, or a person acting in concert 

7 with the violator, knowingly provided material and mis8 leading false contact information to a domain name reg9 istrar, domain name registry, or other domain name reg10 istration authority in registering a domain name used in 

11 connection with the online location, or in maintaining or 

12 renewing such registration.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO TITLE 17, UNITED STATES CODE. 

14 Section 504(c)(2) of title 17, United States Code, is 

15 amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: 

16 ‘‘In a case of infringement occurring at or in connection 

17 with an online location, the infringement shall be consid18 ered to be willful for purposes of this paragraph where 

19 the copyright owner sustains the burden of proving, and 

20 the court finds, that the infringer or a person acting in 

21 concert with the infringer knowingly provided material 

22 and misleading false contact information to a domain 

23 name registrar, domain name registry, or other domain 

24 name registration authority in registering a domain name 

25 used in connection with the online location, or in maintain-
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1 ing or renewing such registration. For purposes of the pre2 ceding sentence, the term ‘domain name’ has the meaning 

3 given that term in section 45 of the Act entitled ‘An Act 

4 to provide for the registration and protection of trade5 marks used in commerce, to carry out the provisions of 

6 certain international conventions, and for other purposes’ 

7 approved July 5, 1946 (commonly referred to as the 

8 ‘Trademark Act of 1946’; 15 U.S.C. 1127).’’. 

9 SEC. 4. AMENDMENT TO TITLE 18, UNITED STATES CODE. 

10 Section 3559 of title 18, United States Code, is 

11 amended by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(f) SENTENCING ENHANCEMENT FOR FALSIFICA13 TION RELATING TO DOMAIN NAMES IN CONNECTION

14 WITH OFFENSES.—The maximum imprisonment other15 wise provided by law for a felony offense shall be increased 

16 by 7 years if, in furtherance of that offense, the defendant 

17 knowingly provided material and misleading false contact 

18 information to a domain name registrar, domain name 

19 registry, or other domain name registration authority in 

20 connection with a domain name registration. For purposes 

21 of this subsection, the term ‘domain name’ has the mean22 ing given that term in section 45 of the Act entitled ‘An 

23 Act to provide for the registration and protection of trade24 marks used in commerce, to carry out the provisions of 

25 certain international conventions, and for other purposes’, 
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1 approved July 5, 1946 (commonly referred to as the 

2 ‘Trademark Act of 1946’; 15 U.S.C. 1127).’’.

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