I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2666 

To establish a program for the licensing of Internet poker by States and 

federally recognized Indian tribes, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 11, 2013 

Mr. BARTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on 

Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish a program for the licensing of Internet poker 

by States and federally recognized Indian tribes, and 

for other purposes. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Internet Poker Freedom Act of 2013’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 


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TITLE I—PROHIBITION ON UNLICENSED INTERNET POKER AND 

PROTECTIONS FOR INTERNET POKER CONSUMERS 

Sec. 101. Definitions. 

Sec. 102. Prohibition on unlicensed Internet poker. 

Sec. 103. Department of Commerce qualification and oversight of Qualified 

Regulatory Authorities. 

Sec. 104. Licensing by Qualified Regulatory Authorities. 

Sec. 105. Enforcement. 

Sec. 106. Compulsive gaming, responsible gaming, and self-exclusion program 

requirements. 

Sec. 107. Prohibitions and restrictions. 

Sec. 108. Safe harbor. 

Sec. 109. Relation to subchapter IV of chapter 53 of title 31, United States 

Code. 

Sec. 110. Cheating and other fraud. 

Sec. 111. Construction and relation to other law. 

Sec. 112. Regulations. 

Sec. 113. Annual reports. 

Sec. 114. Effective date. 

TITLE II—STRENGTHENING OF UNLAWFUL INTERNET 

GAMBLING ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 2006 

Sec. 201. Financial transaction providers. 

Sec. 202. List of unlicensed Internet gambling enterprises. 

Sec. 203. Regulations. 

Sec. 204. Conforming amendments. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Since the development of the Internet, on4 line Web sites offering Internet poker have raised 

5 numerous policy, consumer protection, and enforce6 ment concerns for Federal, State, and tribal govern7 ments as such Web sites are run by operators lo8 cated in many different countries and have sought to 

9 attract customers from the United States. 

10 (2) The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforce11 ment Act of 2006 (title VIII of Public Law 109– 

12 347; 120 Stat. 1952) was intended to aid enforce13 ment efforts against unlawful Internet operators and 


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1 to limit unlawful Internet gaming involving United 

2 States persons. However, that Act has only been 

3 partially successful in doing so. 

4 (3) There is uncertainty about the laws of the 

5 United States governing Internet poker, though not 

6 about laws governing Internet sports betting. In 

7 United States v. DiCristina a Federal District Court 

8 for the Eastern District of New York held that 

9 poker is a game in which skill is the predominant 

10 factor in determining the outcome and that in pass11 ing the Illegal Gambling Businesses Act, Congress 

12 only intended to criminalize clear games of chance. 

13 (4) Additional tools to assist law enforcement in 

14 the prevention of unlawful Internet gaming activities 

15 would be important and beneficial. Maintenance of a 

16 list of unlicensed Internet poker enterprises and the 

17 owners, operators, and key personnel of such enter18 prises (as well as entities and related personnel 

19 found unsuitable) would aid those law enforcement 

20 efforts and would make the Unlawful Internet Gam21 bling Enforcement Act more effective. 

22 (5) Poker is distinct from the class of games of 

23 chance traditionally defined as gambling in that 

24 players compete against each other, and not the per25 son or entity hosting the game (sometimes called 


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1 ‘‘the house’’), and that over any significant interval 

2 the outcome of a poker game is predominantly deter3 mined by the skill of the participants. 

4 (6) United States consumers would benefit from 

5 a program of Internet poker regulation which recog6 nizes the interstate nature of the Internet, but nev7 ertheless preserves the prerogatives of States and 

8 federally recognized Indian tribes. Such a system 

9 would require strict licensing of Internet poker pro10 viders and would require licensee operators to— 

11 (A) have effective means to prevent minors 

12 from playing poker on-line; 

13 (B) identify and help treat problem gam14 blers; 

15 (C) prevent minors and players in non-par16 ticipating States; 

17 (D) allow players to self-exclude and limit 

18 losses; and 

19 (E) prevent money laundering. 

20 (7) Such a program would create a new indus21 try within the United States creating thousands of 

22 jobs and substantial revenue for Federal, State, and 

23 tribal governments. 


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1 TITLE I—PROHIBITION ON UNLI2 CENSED INTERNET POKER 

3 AND PROTECTIONS FOR 

4 INTERNET POKER CON5 SUMERS 

6 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. 

7 As used in this title, the following definitions apply: 

8 (1) APPLICANT.—The term ‘‘applicant’’ means 

9 any person who has applied for a license pursuant 

10 to this title. 

11 (2) BET OR WAGER.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

13 subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘bet or wager’’ has 

14 the meaning given the term in section 5362 of 

15 title 31, United States Code. 

16 (B) EXCEPTION.—The term ‘‘bet or 

17 wager’’ does not include the following: 

18 (i) INTERSTATE HORSERACING.—A 

19 bet or wager that is permissible under the 

20 Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978 (15 

21 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.). 

22 (ii) CERTAIN INTRASTATE TRANS23 ACTIONS.—Placing, receiving, or otherwise 

24 transmitting a bet or wager— 


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1 (I) as described in subparagraph 

2 (B) of section 5362(10) of title 31, 

3 United States Code, and clarified by 

4 subparagraph (E) of such section; and 

5 (II) authorized under a license 

6 that was issued by a regulatory body 

7 of a State or federally recognized In8 dian tribe on or before the date of en9 actment of this Act. 

10 (iii) INTRASTATE LOTTERY TRANS11 ACTIONS.—A bet or wager that is— 

12 (I) a chance or opportunity to 

13 win a lottery or other prize (which op14 portunity to win is predominantly sub15 ject to chance) authorized by a State 

16 or federally recognized Indian tribe; 

17 and 

18 (II) a placing, receiving, or trans19 mitting of a bet or wager as described 

20 in such subparagraph (B) and clari21 fied by subparagraph (E) of such sec22 tion 5362(10). 

23 (iv) INTRATRIBAL TRANSACTIONS.— 

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1 paragraph (C) of such section 5362(10), as 

2 clarified by such subparagraph (E). 

3 (3) CASINO GAMING.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

5 subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘casino gaming’’ 

6 means the full range of casino gaming activity 

7 licensed by regulatory bodies of States or feder8 ally recognized Indian tribes that would be 

9 qualified as class III gaming under section 4 of 

10 the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 

11 2703), if that Act were applicable to the gam12 ing. 

13 (B) EXCEPTION.—The term ‘‘casino gam14 ing’’ does not include lotteries of States or fed15 erally recognized Indian tribes. 

16 (4) CASINO GAMING FACILITY.—The term ‘‘ca17 sino gaming facility’’ means a facility that provides 

18 casino gaming on a riverboat, at a race track, or in 

19 another facility that hosts gaming devices in one 

20 physical location pursuant to a duly authorized li21 cense issued by a gaming regulatory authority of a 

22 State or Indian tribe and has not fewer than 500 

23 slot machines. 

24 (5) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

25 means the National Indian Gaming Commission. 


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1 (6) GAMING DEVICE.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

3 subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘gaming device’’ 

4 means any computer-based gambling machine, 

5 including slot machines and video lottery termi6 nals that have been approved by a gaming regu7 latory authority of a State or federally recog8 nized Indian tribe. 

9 (B) EXCEPTIONS.—The term ‘‘gaming de10 vice’’ does not include— 

11 (i) machines that process bets or wa12 gers for parimutuel betting pools or class 

13 II gaming devices qualified under section 4 

14 of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 

15 U.S.C. 2703); or 

16 (ii) a personal computer. 

17 (7) INDEPENDENT TESTING LABORATORY.— 

18 The term ‘‘independent testing laboratory’’ means a 

19 testing laboratory that is accredited by an inter20 national accreditation body approved by the Sec21 retary and is not owned or controlled by an Internet 

22 gaming facility, an electronic gambling equipment 

23 vendor, manufacturer, or retailer, or an Internet 

24 gambling operator. 


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1 (8) INDIAN LANDS AND FEDERALLY RECOG2 NIZED INDIAN TRIBE.—The terms ‘‘Indian lands’’ 

3 and ‘‘federally recognized Indian tribe’’ have the 

4 meanings given the terms ‘‘Indian lands’’ and ‘‘In5 dian tribes’’, respectively, in section 4 of the Indian 

6 Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2703). 

7 (9) INTERNET.—The term ‘‘Internet’’ has the 

8 meaning given the term in section 5362 of title 31, 

9 United States Code. 

10 (10) INTERNET POKER.—The term ‘‘Internet 

11 poker’’ means a poker game, hand, tournament, or 

12 other contest of poker offered through the use of an 

13 Internet poker facility. 

14 (11) INTERNET POKER FACILITY.—The term 

15 ‘‘Internet poker facility’’ means an Internet Web 

16 site, or similar communications facility in which 

17 transmissions may cross State boundaries, through 

18 which a bet or wager is initiated, received, or other19 wise made, solely with respect to a game, hand, 

20 tournament, or other contest of poker, whether 

21 transmitted by telephone, Internet, satellite, or other 

22 wire or wireless communication facility, service, or 

23 medium. 

24 (12) LICENSEE.—The term ‘‘licensee’’ means a 

25 person who operates an Internet poker facility under 


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1 a license issued by a qualified regulatory authority 

2 pursuant to this title. 

3 (13) OPERATE AN INTERNET POKER FACIL4 ITY.—The term ‘‘operate an Internet poker facility’’ 

5 means to conduct, direct, manage, own, supervise, or 

6 control an Internet poker facility. 

7 (14) POKER.—The term ‘‘poker’’ means any of 

8 several card games commonly known as poker in 

9 which players compete against each other, and not 

10 against any person, entity, or fellow player hosting 

11 the game (sometimes called ‘‘the house’’), the out12 come of which, over any significant interval, is pre13 dominantly determined by the skill of the players. 

14 (15) QUALIFIED REGULATORY AUTHORITY.— 

15 The term ‘‘qualified regulatory authority’’ means— 

16 (A) a State agency or regulatory body that 

17 has been designated as a qualified regulatory 

18 authority under section 103(c); 

19 (B) the designated regulatory authority of 

20 a federally recognized Indian tribe authorized to 

21 game under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act 

22 and designated as a qualified regulatory author23 ity under section 103(c); or 

24 (C) the Office of Internet Poker Oversight 

25 established under section 103(b). 


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1 (16) QUALIFIED CARD ROOM.—The term 

2 ‘‘qualified card room’’ means a facility that has been 

3 licensed by a State or federally recognized Indian 

4 tribe to provide at least 175 tables in one physical 

5 facility for bets or wagers on poker. 

6 (17) REMOTE GAMING EQUIPMENT.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

8 subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘remote gaming 

9 equipment’’ means electronic or other equip10 ment principally used by or on behalf of an op11 erator of an Internet poker facility, including by 

12 any significant vendor to such operator, to— 

13 (i) register a person’s participation in 

14 Internet poker and to store information re15 lating thereto; 

16 (ii) present to persons who are partici17 pating or who may participate in Internet 

18 poker the game that is to be played; 

19 (iii) determine all or part of, or the ef20 fect of, a result relevant to a game, hand, 

21 tournament, or other contest of Internet 

22 poker and to store information relating 

23 thereto; 

24 (iv) accept payment with respect to 

25 Internet poker from the player; or 


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1 (v) authorize payment of any winnings 

2 in respect of Internet poker. 

3 (B) EXCEPTION.—The term ‘‘remote gam4 ing equipment’’ does not include the following: 

5 (i) Equipment used for business con6 tinuity, back-up, excess capacity, or other 

7 secondary use. 

8 (ii) A computer which is used by a 

9 person to participate in Internet poker un10 less the computer is provided by or on be11 half of the person who is conducting or 

12 providing the facilities for the game. 

13 (iii) Equipment operated in the ordi14 nary course of providing banking, tele15 communications, or payment processing 

16 services. 

17 (iv) Such other equipment that pro18 vides ancillary services as the Secretary 

19 considers appropriate. 

20 (18) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

21 means the Secretary of Commerce. 

22 (19) SIGNIFICANT VENDOR.—The term ‘‘signifi23 cant vendor’’ means a person who— 

24 (A) on behalf of a licensee, knowingly man25 ages, administers, or controls bets or wagers 


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1 that are initiated, received, or otherwise made 

2 within the United States; 

3 (B) on behalf of a licensee, knowingly 

4 manages, administers, or controls the games 

5 with which such bets or wagers are associated; 

6 (C) on behalf of a licensee, develops, main7 tains, or operates the software or other system 

8 programs or hardware on which the games or 

9 the bets or wagers are managed, administered, 

10 or controlled; 

11 (D) provides the trademarks, trade names, 

12 service marks, or similar intellectual property 

13 under which a licensee identifies its Internet 

14 poker facility to its customers in the United 

15 States; 

16 (E) sells, licenses, or otherwise receives 

17 compensation for selling or licensing informa18 tion via a database or customer list on individ19 uals in the United States selected in whole or 

20 in part because they made bets or wagers with 

21 an Internet gambling facility not licensed either 

22 pursuant to this title or by a State or federally 

23 recognized Indian tribe as permitted under this 

24 title; 


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1 (F) provides any products, services, or as2 sets to a licensee and is paid a percentage of 

3 gaming revenue or Internet poker commission 

4 fees by the licensee (not including fees to finan5 cial institutions and payment providers for fa6 cilitating a deposit by a customer); or 

7 (G) with respect to an applicant, proposes 

8 to provide any of the activities, services, or 

9 items identified in subparagraphs (A) through 

10 (E). 

11 (20) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

12 the several States of the United States, the District 

13 of Columbia, and any commonwealth, territory, or 

14 possession of the United States. 

15 SEC. 102. PROHIBITION ON UNLICENSED INTERNET POKER. 

16 (a) PROHIBITION.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for a 

18 person to operate an Internet poker facility without 

19 a license in good standing issued to such person by 

20 a qualified regulatory authority under this title. 

21 (2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

22 apply to the operation of an Internet poker facility 

23 by a person located outside the United States in 

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1 erwise made by individuals located outside the 

2 United States. 

3 (b) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—Any person who violates 

4 this section shall be fined under title 18, United States 

5 Code, imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both. 

6 SEC. 103. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE QUALIFICATION 

7 AND OVERSIGHT OF QUALIFIED REGU8 LATORY AUTHORITIES. 

9 (a) COMMERCE RESPONSIBILITIES AND POWERS.— 

10 The Secretary, in the case of a State, and the Commission, 

11 in the case of a federally recognized Indian tribe, shall 

12 have responsibility and authority for the following activi13 ties: 

14 (1) Reviewing and qualifying regulatory au15 thorities to issue licenses under this title. 

16 (2) Exercising oversight over qualified regu17 latory authorities to ensure that such authorities— 

18 (A) comply with the requirements of this 

19 title; and 

20 (B) carry out their regulatory and enforce21 ment functions under this title with appropriate 

22 diligence. 

23 (3) Investigating and taking appropriate reme24 dial action with respect to any qualified regulatory 

25 authority. 


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1 (4) Prescribing such regulations as may be nec2 essary to administer and enforce the provisions of 

3 this title. 

4 (b) OFFICE OF INTERNET POKER OVERSIGHT.— 

5 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es6 tablish an office in the Department of Commerce to 

7 be known as the ‘‘Office of Internet Poker Over8 sight’’ (in this subsection referred to as the ‘‘office’’) 

9 to exercise the functions of the Secretary set out in 

10 this title. 

11 (2) DIRECTOR AND DELEGATION OF AUTHOR12 ITY.—The Secretary shall appoint a Director of the 

13 office from among individuals who have dem14 onstrated experience and expertise in regulating 

15 gaming activities and may delegate to the Director 

16 any authority, duty, or responsibility conferred upon 

17 the Secretary by this title. 

18 (c) DESIGNATION OF QUALIFIED REGULATORY AU19 THORITIES.— 

20 (1) QUALIFICATION OF REGULATORY AUTHORI21 TIES.—The Secretary, in the case of a State, or the 

22 Commission, in the case of a federally recognized In23 dian tribe, shall qualify any regulatory authority 

24 that is designated to the Secretary or the Commis25 sion by a State or federally recognized Indian tribe, 


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1 respectively, that wishes to participate in the licens2 ing program to carry out the licensing and other 

3 functions under this title if the Secretary, in the 

4 case of a State, or the Commission, in the case of 

5 a federally recognized Indian tribe, determines that 

6 such regulatory authority meets the minimum stand7 ards for qualification prescribed under paragraph 

8 (2). 

9 (2) MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR QUALIFIED REG10 ULATORY AUTHORITIES.—The Secretary, in con11 sultation with the National Indian Gaming Commis12 sion, shall prescribe minimum standards for quali13 fying a qualified regulatory authority under this sub14 section, including minimum standards— 

15 (A) relating to the size and qualification of 

16 staff of the regulatory authority to ensure a 

17 sufficient number of enforcement agents with 

18 experience in gaming regulatory enforcement 

19 areas to discharge its intended functions and 

20 that the applicant have the sophistication and 

21 resources necessary to evaluate issues unique to 

22 the Internet environment; 

23 (B) relating to the length of time the ap24 plicant has regulated other forms of gaming to 

25 ensure designations of only those applicants 


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1 that have a history of demonstrated regulatory 

2 enforcement and oversight commensurate with 

3 the responsibilities imposed under this title; 

4 (C) for assessing the applicant’s experience 

5 and willingness to work with Federal authori6 ties, including the Financial Crimes Enforce7 ment Network; 

8 (D) prohibiting conflicts of interest to en9 sure that qualified regulatory authorities are 

10 not controlled, directly or indirectly, by persons 

11 that have any significant ownership interest in 

12 entities regulated under this title; 

13 (E) for the capacity and experience of a 

14 qualified regulatory authority in conducting rig15 orous suitability reviews; 

16 (F) for the enforcement and regulatory au17 thorities provided to the applicant under the 

18 law of the applicable State or federally recog19 nized Indian tribe, including investigative au20 thority, authority to impose requirements on li21 censees, and authority to impose civil or other 

22 penalties; and 

23 (G) the Secretary, in consultation with the 

24 Commission considers relevant to the ability of 


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1 a regulatory authority to serve as an effective 

2 qualified regulatory authority. 

3 (3) WITHDRAWAL OF QUALIFICATION.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date 

5 that is 1 year after the date on which the Sec6 retary prescribes final regulations under this 

7 title, the Secretary, in the case of a State, or 

8 the Commission, in the case of a federally rec9 ognized Indian tribe, may, after providing 60 

10 days notice to a qualified regulatory authority, 

11 withdraw the qualification of such regulatory 

12 authority under this section if the Secretary or 

13 Commission, respectively, determines that the 

14 regulatory authority is not in compliance with 

15 the minimum standards established under para16 graph (2) or other requirements of this title. 

17 (B) OPPORTUNITY TO COMPLY.—The Sec18 retary, in the case of a State, or the Commis19 sion, in the case of a federally recognized In20 dian tribe, may provide a qualified regulatory 

21 authority who receives notice under subpara22 graph (A) with an opportunity to come into 

23 compliance for a period of not more than 180 

24 days. The Secretary, in the case of a State, or 

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1 ognized Indian tribe, may extend such period by 

2 not more than 180 additional days if the quali3 fied regulatory authority has made substantial 

4 progress toward compliance as of the expiration 

5 of the first 180-day period. 

6 (C) EFFECT OF NOTICE.—A qualified reg7 ulatory authority that receives notice under 

8 subparagraph (A) may not issue any new li9 censes under this title until the Secretary, in 

10 the case of a State, or the Commission, in the 

11 case of a federally recognized Indian tribe, de12 termines that the qualified regulatory authority 

13 is in compliance with the requirements of this 

14 title and regulations prescribed thereunder. 

15 (D) RIGHT TO APPEAL.—A qualified regu16 latory authority that has had its qualification 

17 withdrawn under this paragraph may appeal to 

18 the United States District Court for the Dis19 trict of Columbia that such withdrawal was an 

20 abuse of discretion. 

21 (4) ACTION UPON WITHDRAWAL OF QUALIFICA22 TION.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

24 subparagraph (B), not later than 30 days after 

25 the date on which the Secretary, in the case of 


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1 a State, or the Commission, in the case of a 

2 federally recognized Indian tribe, withdraws the 

3 qualification of a qualified regulatory authority 

4 under paragraph (3), each person with a license 

5 issued by the qualified regulatory authority 

6 shall— 

7 (i)(I) cease offering, accepting, and 

8 providing services with respect to bets or 

9 wagers from persons located in the United 

10 States under such license; and 

11 (II) return all customer deposits or 

12 place those sums the return of which to 

13 United States customers is not feasible due 

14 to change in customer address, bank de15 tails, or similar difficulty, in escrow in an 

16 account with a financial institution in the 

17 United States for safekeeping and orderly 

18 disposition by the Secretary; or 

19 (ii) apply for a new license from a dif20 ferent qualified regulatory authority. 

21 (B) INTERIM OPERATION.—If a person ap22 plies for a new license under clause (ii) of sub23 paragraph (A), the person may continue the ac24 tivities described in clause (i)(I) of such sub25 paragraph until final action is taken on the liVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:25 Jul 12, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2666.IH H2666

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1 cense application by the qualified regulatory au2 thority. 

3 (C) INTERIM REGULATORY OVERSIGHT.— 

4 Until final action is taken under subparagraph 

5 (B) with respect to a person, the Secretary, in 

6 the case of a State, or the Commission, in the 

7 case of a federally recognized Indian tribe, shall 

8 have enforcement and regulatory authority over 

9 the licensed activities of such person. 

10 (d) OVERSIGHT OF QUALIFIED REGULATORY AU11 THORITIES.—The Secretary, in the case of a State, or the 

12 Commission, in the case of a federally recognized Indian 

13 tribe, may investigate and take such action as the Sec14 retary considers appropriate with respect to any qualified 

15 regulatory authority that appears, based upon the Sec16 retary’s or Commission’s own inquiry or based upon cred17 ible information provided by other persons, including li18 censees or law enforcement officials, to be deficient or sub19 stantially less rigorous than other qualified regulatory au20 thorities in the discharge of its responsibilities under this 

21 title. 

22 (e) CONSULTATION WITH FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED

23 INDIAN TRIBES.—In implementing this title, the Sec24 retary and the Commission shall conduct meaningful con25 sultation with federally recognized Indian tribes regarding 


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1 all aspects of this title which affect federally recognized 

2 Indian tribes. 

3 SEC. 104. LICENSING BY QUALIFIED REGULATORY AU4 THORITIES. 

5 (a) INTERNET POKER FACILITY LICENSING PRO6 GRAM.— 

7 (1) AUTHORITY TO OPERATE INTERNET POKER

8 FACILITY UNDER VALID LICENSE.—Notwithstanding 

9 any other provision of law and subject to the provi10 sions of this title, a licensee may accept a bet or 

11 wager with respect to Internet poker from an indi12 vidual located in the United States and may offer re13 lated services so long as the license of the licensee 

14 issued under this title remains in good standing. 

15 (2) SIGNIFICANT VENDORS.—If a person seeks 

16 a certificate of suitability from a qualified regulatory 

17 authority to provide services to a licensee or appli18 cant as a significant vendor with respect to an Inter19 net poker facility, such person shall not be required 

20 to obtain a license under this title to provide such 

21 services with respect to that Internet poker facility. 

22 (3) PROHIBITIONS IMPOSED BY STATES OR

23 FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED INDIAN TRIBES.— 

24 (A) ACTION BY A STATE.—No licensee 

25 may engage, under any license issued under 


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1 this title, in the operation of an Internet poker 

2 facility that knowingly accepts bets or wagers 

3 initiated by persons who reside in any State 

4 which provides notice that it will prohibit such 

5 bets or wagers, if the Governor or other chief 

6 executive officer of such State informs the Sec7 retary of such prohibition in a letter that identi8 fies the nature and extent of such prohibition. 

9 (B) CHANGES TO STATE PROHIBITIONS.— 

10 The establishment, repeal, or amendment by a 

11 State of any prohibition described in subpara12 graph (A) shall apply, for purposes of this title, 

13 beginning on the day that occurs after the end 

14 of the 60-day period beginning on the later of— 

15 (i) the date a notice of such establish16 ment, repeal, or amendment is provided by 

17 the Governor or other chief executive offi18 cer of such State in writing to the Sec19 retary; or 

20 (ii) the effective date of such estab21 lishment, repeal, or amendment. 

22 (C) APPLICATION OF STATE ACTION TO

23 TRIBAL LANDS OF FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED IN24 DIAN TRIBES.—Any State prohibition described 

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1 ceptance by a licensee of bets or wagers from 

2 persons located within the tribal lands of a fed3 erally recognized Indian tribe that— 

4 (i) has itself not opted out pursuant 

5 to subsection (b); or 

6 (ii) would be entitled pursuant to 

7 other applicable law to permit such bets or 

8 wagers to be initiated and received within 

9 its territory without use of the Internet. 

10 (D) ACTIONS BY A FEDERALLY RECOG11 NIZED INDIAN TRIBE.—No Internet poker li12 censee knowingly may accept a bet or wager 

13 from a person located in the tribal lands of any 

14 federally recognized Indian tribe which pro15 hibits such gambling activities or other contests 

16 if the principal chief or other chief executive of17 ficer of such federally recognized Indian tribe 

18 informs the Secretary of such prohibition in a 

19 letter that identifies the nature and extent of 

20 such prohibition. 

21 (E) CHANGES TO STATE AND FEDERALLY

22 RECOGNIZED INDIAN TRIBE PROHIBITIONS.— 

23 The establishment, repeal, or amendment by 

24 any federally recognized Indian tribe of any 

25 prohibition referred to in subparagraph (D) 


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1 shall apply, for purposes of this title, beginning 

2 on the day that occurs after the end of the 60- 

3 day period beginning on the later of— 

4 (i) the date a notice of such establish5 ment, repeal, or amendment is provided by 

6 the principal chief or other chief executive 

7 officer of such federally recognized Indian 

8 tribe in writing to the Secretary; or 

9 (ii) the effective date of such estab10 lishment, repeal, or amendment. 

11 (F) NOTIFICATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF

12 STATE AND TRIBE PROHIBITIONS.— 

13 (i) NOTIFICATION AND MEASURES TO

14 ENSURE COMPLIANCE.—The Secretary 

15 shall notify all licensees and applicants of 

16 all States and federally recognized Indian 

17 tribes that have provided notice pursuant 

18 to subparagraph (A)(ii) or (C)(ii), as the 

19 case may be, promptly upon receipt of such 

20 notice and in no event fewer than 30 days 

21 before the effective date of such notice. 

22 The Secretary shall take effective measures 

23 to ensure that any licensee under this sub24 chapter, as a condition of the license, com25 plies with any limitation or prohibition imVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:25 Jul 12, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2666.IH H2666

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1 posed by any State or federally recognized 

2 Indian tribe to which the licensee is sub3 ject. 

4 (ii) VIOLATIONS.—A violation of sub5 paragraph (A) or (C) shall be a violation 

6 of this title enforceable under section 105. 

7 (b) APPLICATION FOR LICENSE.— 

8 (1) APPLICATION.—Except as provided in sub9 paragraph (B), a person seeking to operate an Inter10 net poker facility under this title shall submit to the 

11 qualified regulatory authority of the State or feder12 ally recognized Indian tribe where servers for such 

13 Internet poker facility are located or will be located 

14 an application for a license at such time, in such 

15 form, and in such manner as the qualified regulatory 

16 authority considers appropriate, including at a min17 imum the following: 

18 (A) Complete financial information about 

19 the applicant. 

20 (B) Documentation showing the organiza21 tion of the applicant and all related businesses 

22 and affiliates. 

23 (C) The criminal and financial history of— 

24 (i) the applicant; 


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1 (ii) each of the senior executives and 

2 directors of the applicant; 

3 (iii) any other person who is in control 

4 of the applicant; and 

5 (iv) such other persons as the quali6 fied regulatory authority considers appro7 priate. 

8 (D) Such other information as may be nec9 essary for the suitability analysis required 

10 under subsection (c). 

11 (E) Disclosure of all other applications for 

12 licenses previously or simultaneously submitted 

13 under this paragraph to other qualified regu14 latory authorities and whether those applica15 tions are pending, were granted, or were denied. 

16 (F) A detailed description of the appli17 cant’s plan for complying with all applicable re18 quirements and regulations prescribed pursuant 

19 to this title. 

20 (G) A certification by the applicant that 

21 the applicant agrees to be subject to— 

22 (i) jurisdiction in Federal courts and 

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1 latory authority to which the applicant has 

2 applied; and 

3 (ii) all applicable provisions of Federal 

4 law. 

5 (2) NOTICE TO THE SECRETARY.—Each quali6 fied regulatory authority shall report all applicants 

7 for licensure and the dispositions of their applica8 tions to the Secretary promptly upon disposition of 

9 each application or in such intervals as the Secretary 

10 may prescribe. Such report shall include such infor11 mation or documentation as the Secretary may re12 quire. 

13 (c) STANDARDS FOR LICENSE ISSUANCE; SUIT14 ABILITY QUALIFICATIONS AND DISQUALIFICATION

15 STANDARDS.— 

16 (1) SUITABILITY FOR LICENSING.—No appli17 cant shall be eligible to obtain a license under this 

18 title unless a qualified regulatory authority, with 

19 whom the applicant has filed an application for a li20 cense, has determined, upon completion of a back21 ground check and investigation, that the applicant, 

22 any person deemed to be in control of the applicant, 

23 all significant vendors of the applicant, and any 

24 other person determined by the qualified regulatory 

25 authority as having significant influence on the apVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:25 Jul 12, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2666.IH H2666

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1 plicant are suitable for licensing or for receiving a 

2 certificate of suitability as applicable. 

3 (2) INVESTIGATION.— 

4 (A) DETERMINATION OF SUITABILITY.— 

5 Prior to issuing a license under this section, a 

6 qualified regulatory authority shall conduct the 

7 investigation and analysis described in para8 graph (1) to determine whether the applicant or 

9 person— 

10 (i) is a person of good character, hon11 esty, and integrity; 

12 (ii) is a person whose prior activities, 

13 criminal record, if any, reputation, habits, 

14 and associations do not— 

15 (I) pose a threat to the public in16 terest or to the effective regulation 

17 and control of Internet poker facili18 ties; or 

19 (II) create or enhance the dan20 gers of unsuitable, unfair, or illegal 

21 practices, methods, and activities in 

22 the conduct of Internet poker facilities 

23 or the carrying on of the business and 

24 financial arrangements incidental to 

25 such facilities; 


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1 (iii) is capable of and likely to conduct 

2 the activities for which the applicant is li3 censed or receives a certificate of suit4 ability in accordance with the provisions of 

5 this title, any regulations prescribed under 

6 this title, and all other applicable laws; 

7 (iv) with respect to applicants, has or 

8 guarantees acquisition of adequate busi9 ness competence and experience in the op10 eration of casino gaming facilities or Inter11 net poker facilities; 

12 (v) with respect to applicants, has or 

13 will obtain sufficient financing for the na14 ture of the proposed operation and from a 

15 source that the qualified regulatory author16 ity has not found unsuitable under the cri17 teria established under subparagraph (B); 

18 and 

19 (vi) has disclosed to the qualified reg20 ulatory authority all known affiliations or 

21 relationships, whether direct or indirect. 

22 (B) UNSUITABLE.—An applicant or any 

23 other person may not be determined to be suit24 able under this subsection if the applicant or 

25 such person— 


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1 (i) has failed to provide information 

2 and documentation material to a deter3 mination of suitability for licensing under 

4 paragraph (1); 

5 (ii) has supplied information which is 

6 untrue or misleading as to a material fact 

7 pertaining to any such determination; 

8 (iii) has been convicted of an offense 

9 that is punishable by imprisonment of 

10 more than 1 year; 

11 (iv) is delinquent in the payment of 

12 any applicable Federal or State tax, tax 

13 penalty, addition to tax, or interest owed 

14 to a jurisdiction in which the applicant or 

15 person operates or does business, unless 

16 such payment has been extended or is the 

17 subject of a pending judicial or administra18 tive dispute; 

19 (v) has not certified in writing that 

20 the person submits to personal jurisdiction 

21 in the United States; or 

22 (vi) fails to comply with such other 

23 standard as the applicable qualified regu24 latory authority considers appropriate. 


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1 (C) INELIGIBILITY DUE TO PRIOR ENGAGE2 MENT IN UNLAWFUL INTERNET POKER.— 

3 (i) No applicant nor any other person 

4 may be eligible for a license or certificate 

5 of suitability under this section if such ap6 plicant or person has been convicted of ac7 cepting bets or wagers from any other per8 son through an Internet poker facility in 

9 felony violation of Federal or State law. 

10 The ineligibility of an applicant or other 

11 person under this subparagraph shall ter12 minate on the date that is 5 years after 

13 the date on which the first license is issued 

14 under this section. 

15 (ii) No applicant or person who has 

16 purchased the assets of a person described 

17 in clause (i) subsequent to the enactment 

18 of this Act shall be eligible for a license or 

19 certificate of suitability under this section 

20 until the date that is 5 years after the date 

21 on which the first license is issued. 

22 (3) ONGOING REQUIREMENT.—A licensee (and 

23 any other person who is required to be determined 

24 to be suitable for licensing in connection with such 

25 licensee) shall meet the standards necessary to be 


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1 suitable for licensing or to receive a certificate of 

2 suitability, as the case may be, throughout the term 

3 of the license. 

4 (4) CERTIFICATE OF SUITABILITY FOR SIGNIFI5 CANT VENDORS.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—If a qualifying body de7 termines under paragraph (1) that a significant 

8 vendor of an applicant is suitable under such 

9 paragraph, the qualifying body shall issue a cer10 tificate to such vendor that certifies the suit11 ability of such vendor. 

12 (B) REVOCATION OF CERTIFICATE.—A 

13 qualified regulatory authority that issues a cer14 tificate to a significant vendor under subpara15 graph (A) shall revoke the certificate if at any 

16 time the significant vendor no longer meets the 

17 standards necessary for a determination of suit18 ability. 

19 (C) CERTIFICATES ISSUED BY OTHER

20 QUALIFIED REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—A quali21 fied regulatory authority may, but need not, ac22 cept a certificate issued to a significant vendor 

23 by another qualified regulatory authority as evi24 dence of the suitability of the significant ven25 dor. 


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1 (5) OTHER VENDORS.— 

2 (A) NOTICE.—A licensee shall promptly 

3 notify the qualified regulatory authority that 

4 issued the license to the licensee of all persons 

5 that are not significant vendors that— 

6 (i) direct, provide, or solicit customers 

7 to or for the licensee’s Internet poker facil8 ity, or materially assist in any of those 

9 tasks, in return for a commission or other 

10 fee; 

11 (ii) hold themselves out to the public 

12 as offering bets or wagers on licensee’s be13 half; 

14 (iii) offer bets or wagers under their 

15 own names or brands but using and rely16 ing on licensee’s Internet poker facilities; 

17 (iv) license trademarks, trade names, 

18 service marks, or other similar intellectual 

19 property to the licensee; or 

20 (v) own a substantial interest in or 

21 control a person described in clause (i), 

22 (ii), (iii), or (iv). 

23 (B) SUITABILITY OF OTHER VENDORS AND

24 PERSONS.—A qualified regulatory authority 

25 that reviews an application of an applicant for 


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1 a license or issues a license to a licensee may, 

2 at the sole discretion of the qualified regulatory 

3 authority and on a case-by-case basis, require 

4 as a condition of such license that a person 

5 meet suitability requirements under paragraph 

6 (1) if the person— 

7 (i) is described in subparagraph (A) 

8 with respect to the applicant or licensee; 

9 (ii) provides services to an applicant 

10 or licensee and the qualified regulatory au11 thority determines that with respect to 

12 such services, there is a substantial risk of 

13 circumvention of the suitability require14 ments applicable to significant vendors; or 

15 (iii) is associated with the applicant or 

16 licensee or one of the significant vendors of 

17 the applicant or licensee and the qualified 

18 regulatory authority determines such per19 son may pose a threat to the integrity of 

20 Internet poker facilities operated by the 

21 applicant or licensee. 

22 (C) INFORMATION.—A qualified regulatory 

23 authority may require such information from an 

24 applicant, licensee, significant vendor or other 

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1 fied regulatory authority considers necessary to 

2 carry out this paragraph. 

3 (6) ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary or the 

5 qualified regulatory authority that issued a li6 cense to a licensee finds that the licensee, or 

7 any other person that is subject to a required 

8 determination of suitability in connection with 

9 such licensee, fails to meet the suitability re10 quirements of this subsection at any time dur11 ing the tenure of the license, the Secretary or 

12 the qualified regulatory authority may take ac13 tion to protect the public interest, including, if 

14 the Secretary or qualified regulatory authority 

15 considers necessary, the suspension or termi16 nation of the license. 

17 (B) IMPOSITION OF CONDITIONS INCLUD18 ING REMOVAL OF PARTIES.—Notwithstanding a 

19 determination under subparagraph (A), the 

20 Secretary or the qualified regulatory authority 

21 that issued a license to a licensee may allow the 

22 licensee to continue engaging in licensed activi23 ties by imposing conditions on the person to 

24 which subparagraph (A) is applicable under 


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1 penalty of revocation or suspension of a license 

2 or certificate of suitability, including— 

3 (i) the identification of any person de4 termined to be unsuitable; and 

5 (ii) the establishment of appropriate 

6 safeguards to ensure such person is ex7 cluded from any management or involve8 ment in operation of the licensed activities. 

9 (7) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.— 

10 (A) BACKGROUND CHECK AND INVESTIGA11 TION.—Each qualified regulatory authority 

12 shall establish standards and procedures for 

13 conducting background checks and investiga14 tions for purposes of this subsection. 

15 (B) PRIVILEGE.—Any written or oral 

16 statement made in the course of an official pro17 ceeding of the Secretary or a qualified regu18 latory authority, by any member thereof, or any 

19 witness testifying under oath which is relevant 

20 to the purpose of the proceeding and relates to 

21 the review of an application for a license under 

22 this title, is privileged and shall not give rise to 

23 liability for defamation or relief in any civil ac24 tion. 


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1 (C) ADDITIONAL PRIVILEGE.—Notwith2 standing section 552 of title 5, United States 

3 Code, or any other Federal, State, or tribal law 

4 to the contrary, any communication or docu5 ment of an applicant, licensee, significant ven6 dor, or affiliate thereof, which is made or trans7 mitted pursuant to this title to the Secretary or 

8 a qualified regulatory authority or any of their 

9 agents or employees, except information that is 

10 already public, shall be privileged and shall not 

11 be disclosed by the Secretary or the qualified 

12 regulatory authority without the prior written 

13 consent of the applicant, licensee, significant 

14 vendor, or affiliate thereof (as applicable), or 

15 pursuant to a lawful court order, grand jury 

16 subpoena, or similar procedure. To the extent 

17 practicable, the Secretary or qualified regu18 latory authority shall provide timely notice of 

19 the proceedings to the applicant, licensee, sig20 nificant vendor, or affiliate thereof (as applica21 ble). 

22 (D) PRESERVATION OF PRIVILEGE RECOG23 NIZED UNDER OTHER PROVISIONS OF LAW.— 

24 Any privilege recognized under any other appli25 cable provision of Federal, State, or tribal law, 


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1 including attorney-client, physician-patient, and 

2 accountant-client privileges, shall not be waived 

3 or lost because a document or communication 

4 otherwise protected by the privilege is disclosed 

5 to the Secretary or a qualified regulatory au6 thority. 

7 (E) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Any communica8 tion or document, except information that is al9 ready public, shall be treated as confidential 

10 and may not be disclosed, in whole or part, by 

11 the Secretary or a qualified regulatory authority 

12 without a lawful court order or as otherwise ex13 pressly required by law, if the communication 

14 or document is— 

15 (i) required by the Secretary or quali16 fied regulatory authority to be disclosed by 

17 the applicant, licensee, or significant ven18 dor, including applications, financial or 

19 earnings information, and criminal records, 

20 whether of the applicant or licensee or of 

21 any affiliate, employee, officer, director, or 

22 significant vendor thereof, or of any other 

23 third party; or 

24 (ii) prepared or obtained by an agent 

25 or employee of the Secretary or qualified 


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1 regulatory authority that contains informa2 tion described in clause (i). 

3 (d) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR A LICENSE.— 

4 In order to obtain a license under this section, an Internet 

5 poker facility shall demonstrate to the qualified regulatory 

6 authority that such facility maintains appropriate safe7 guards and mechanisms, in accordance with standards es8 tablished by the qualified regulatory authority, including 

9 appropriate safeguards and mechanism to— 

10 (1) ensure, to a reasonable degree of certainty, 

11 that the individual placing a bet or wager is not less 

12 than 21 years of age; 

13 (2) ensure, to a reasonable degree of certainty, 

14 that the individual placing a bet or wager is phys15 ically located in a jurisdiction that has not prohib16 ited such bets or wagers at the time the bet or 

17 wager is placed; 

18 (3) ensure, to a reasonable degree of certainty, 

19 that all taxes relating to Internet poker from per20 sons engaged in bets or wagers relating to such 

21 Internet poker are collected or reported, as required 

22 by law, at the time of any payment of proceeds of 

23 such bets or wagers; 

24 (4) ensure that all taxes relating to the oper25 ation of an Internet poker facility from any licensee 


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1 are collected and disbursed as required by law and 

2 that adequate records to enable later audit or 

3 verification are maintained; 

4 (5) prevent, to a reasonable degree of certainty, 

5 fraud, money laundering, and terrorist financing; 

6 (6) ensure, to a reasonable degree of certainty, 

7 compliance with the requirements of section 106; 

8 (7) protect, to a reasonable degree of certainty, 

9 the privacy and online security of any person en10 gaged in bets or wagers with the licensee’s Internet 

11 poker facility; 

12 (8) ensure that any user fee required under 

13 subsection (e) is paid to the qualified regulatory au14 thority; 

15 (9) ensure, to a reasonable degree of certainty, 

16 that Internet poker games are fair and honest, and 

17 to prevent, to a reasonable degree of certainty, 

18 cheating, including collusion, and use of cheating de19 vices, including use of software programs (sometimes 

20 referred to as ‘‘bots’’) that make bets or wagers ac21 cording to algorithms; and 

22 (10) such other mechanisms and safeguards as 

23 the qualified regulatory authority shall require, in24 cluding independent testing of hardware, software, 

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1 vices to ensure the integrity, accountability, random2 ness of play and security of the network. 

3 (e) FEES FOR ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.— 

4 (1) USER FEES.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The cost of admin6 istering this title with respect to each applicant, 

7 licensee, and significant vendor, including the 

8 cost of any review or examination of a licensee 

9 or its significant vendors to ensure compliance 

10 with the terms of the license and this title, shall 

11 be assessed by the qualified regulatory author12 ity receiving an application or issuing a license 

13 against the applicant, licensee, or significant 

14 vendor, as the case may be, by written notice in 

15 an amount that the qualified regulatory author16 ity determines is necessary to— 

17 (i) meet the qualified regulatory 

18 authority’s expenses in carrying out such 

19 administration, review, or examination; 

20 and 

21 (ii) to cover the qualified regulatory 

22 authority’s share of the amount deter23 mined by the Secretary under paragraph 

24 (3) to cover the expenses incurred by the 


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1 Secretary in carrying out the provisions of 

2 this title. 

3 (B) EXPENSES FOR REVIEW OR EXAMINA4 TION.—Expenses that are attributable to review 

5 or examination of a particular applicant, li6 censee, or significant vendor shall be assessed 

7 under subparagraph (A) against that applicant, 

8 licensee, or significant vendor. 

9 (C) EXPENSES FOR GENERAL ADMINISTRA10 TION.—Expenses for general administration 

11 shall be assessed against all licensees equally. 

12 (D) DISPOSITION OF USER FEES.— 

13 Amounts assessed by a qualified regulatory au14 thority as user fees under this paragraph 

15 shall— 

16 (i) be remitted to the Secretary, in the 

17 amount of that State’s or federally recog18 nized Indian tribe’s share as determined 

19 under paragraph (3) for deposit in the 

20 Treasury in accordance with subparagraph 

21 (B) of such paragraph; and 

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1 ity in carrying out the provisions of this 

2 title; and 

3 (II) not be construed to be Govern4 ment funds or appropriated monies, or 

5 subject to apportionment for the purposes 

6 of any other provision of law. 

7 (E) COLLECTION.— 

8 (i) REFERRAL.—If a licensee or sig9 nificant vendor fails to pay a user fee to a 

10 qualified regulatory authority under this 

11 paragraph after the assessment of the fee 

12 has become final— 

13 (I) the qualified regulatory au14 thority may recover the amount as15 sessed by action in any State or tribal 

16 court in the jurisdiction of the quali17 fied regulatory authority, or in any 

18 appropriate United States district 

19 court, along with any costs of collec20 tion and attorney fees; and 

21 (II) such failure may be grounds 

22 for denial of an application for a li23 cense under this title or revocation of 

24 a license or certificate of suitability 

25 under this title. 


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1 (ii) ASSESSMENT REVIEWABLE.—In 

2 any civil action under clause (i), a court 

3 may review the validity and adjust the 

4 amount of the user fees. 

5 (F) USER FEES OF SIGNIFICANT VENDORS

6 MAY BE PAID BY APPLICANTS AND LICENS7 EES.—A user fee assessed against a significant 

8 vendor may be paid by an applicant or licensee 

9 on behalf of the significant vendor. 

10 (2) DIRECT AND EXCLUSIVE OBLIGATION OF

11 LICENSEE.—With respect to a licensee, a user fee 

12 shall be the direct and exclusive obligation of the li13 censee and may not be deducted from amounts avail14 able as deposits to any person placing a bet or wager 

15 with the licensee. 

16 (3) USER FEES ESTABLISHED BY SEC17 RETARY.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall de19 termine the funding requirements necessary to 

20 meet the Secretary’s cost of administering this 

21 title and notify each qualified regulatory au22 thority of its proportional share to be collected 

23 by such regulatory authority under paragraph 

24 (1)(A). 


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1 (B) DISPOSITION OF USER FEES.— 

2 Amounts remitted to the Secretary under para3 graph (1)(D)(i) shall— 

4 (i) be deposited into a separate ac5 count in the Treasury to be known as the 

6 ‘‘Internet Poker Oversight Fund’’; and 

7 (ii) be available to the Secretary in 

8 such amounts, subject to appropriations, to 

9 cover expenses incurred by the Secretary in 

10 carrying out the provisions of this title. 

11 (f) APPROVAL OF LICENSE.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—A qualified regulatory au13 thority may issue licenses under this title for the op14 eration of an Internet poker facility to any applicant 

15 that— 

16 (A) owns or controls a company that oper17 ates a casino gaming facility or qualified card 

18 room and owned or controlled such facility or 

19 card room on the date that is 10 days before 

20 the date of enactment of this Act; 

21 (B) for the duration of the 5-year period 

22 ending on the date on which the applicant sub23 mits an application under subsection (b)(1), 

24 owned or controlled a casino gaming facility or 

25 qualified card room; 


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1 (C) is owned or controlled by a person 

2 who— 

3 (i) owns or controls a company that 

4 operates a casino gaming facility or quali5 fied card room and owned or controlled 

6 such facility or card room on the date that 

7 is 10 days before the date of enactment of 

8 this Act; or 

9 (ii) for the duration of the 5-year pe10 riod ending on the date on which the appli11 cant submits an application under sub12 section (b)(1), owned or controlled a casino 

13 gaming facility or qualified card room; 

14 (D) for the duration of the 5-year period 

15 ending on the date on which the applicant sub16 mits an application under subsection (b)(1), 

17 under license issued by a State or federally rec18 ognized Indian tribe manufactured and supplied 

19 to casino gaming facilities with not fewer than 

20 500 slot machines; and 

21 (E) meets other criteria established by the 

22 Secretary or by the qualified regulatory author23 ity under this title. 

24 (2) EXPANSION OF LICENSEES ONLY IF NO

25 RISK TO PUBLIC.—Beginning on the date that is 2 


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1 years after the date of first issuance specified in sec2 tion 115(b), the Secretary may, by rule, authorize 

3 the issuance of licenses to applicants other than 

4 those described in paragraph (1) if the Secretary de5 termines, after providing the public with notice and 

6 an opportunity to comment, that such authorization 

7 will not significantly increase the risk that the 

8 standards described in subsection (d) will not be sat9 isfied by licensees. 

10 (3) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY TO REVOKE LI11 CENSES.—Notwithstanding any certificate of suit12 ability or license issued by a qualified regulatory au13 thority, the Secretary may suspend or revoke such 

14 certificate or license if the Secretary has reason to 

15 believe that the recipient does not meet the suit16 ability requirements established under subsection (c) 

17 or, as applicable, any other requirement imposed on 

18 a licensee under this title. The Secretary may not 

19 overturn a decision by a qualified regulatory author20 ity to deny or to terminate a license or to deny or 

21 revoke a certificate of suitability. 

22 (4) CONFLICTS BETWEEN QUALIFIED REGU23 LATORY AUTHORITIES.—If a qualified regulatory au24 thority denies a license, terminates a license, denies 

25 a certificate of suitability, or revokes a certificate of 


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1 suitability to a person and within 12 months of such 

2 denial, termination, or revocation another qualified 

3 regulatory authority grants such person a license or 

4 certificate of suitability, the Secretary shall— 

5 (A) commence a review of such license or 

6 certificate of suitability; and 

7 (B) not later than 90 days after such com8 mencement, determine whether to act under 

9 paragraph (3). 

10 (5) CONTROL DEFINED.—In this subsection, 

11 the term ‘‘control’’ means, with respect to a person, 

12 the possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to 

13 direct or influence the direction of the management 

14 or policies of the person, whether through the owner15 ship of voting securities, through a management, ex16 ecutive officer, or board position, by shareholders or 

17 similar agreement, or otherwise. 

18 (g) LOCATION OF REMOTE GAMING EQUIPMENT.— 

19 A licensee shall maintain its remote gaming equipment 

20 within the territory of the United States throughout the 

21 term of its license. A qualified regulatory authority shall 

22 require applicants that seek a license from such qualified 

23 regulatory authority to locate that equipment within the 

24 territory of the State or on the Indian land of the tribe 

25 of the qualified regulatory authority. 


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1 (h) LICENSE IS A PRIVILEGE NOT A RIGHT.—A deci2 sion by a qualified regulatory authority not to grant a per3 son a license or certificate of suitability, or to terminate 

4 a license, or revoke a certificate of suitability, is not re5 viewable under Federal law or the law of any jurisdiction 

6 other than the jurisdiction of the qualified regulatory au7 thority. The State or federally recognized Indian tribe of 

8 the jurisdiction of the qualified regulatory authority may, 

9 but need not, provide an opportunity to appeal. 

10 (i) TERM, RENEWAL, AND TRANSFER OF LICENSE.— 

11 (1) TERM.—Any license issued under this title 

12 shall be issued for a 5-year term beginning on the 

13 date of issuance. A license may be renewed in ac14 cordance with requirements prescribed by the quali15 fied regulatory authority that issued the license 

16 under this title. 

17 (2) TRANSFER.—A transfer of a license, change 

18 of control of a licensee, or change in significant ven19 dor shall require prior approval by the qualified reg20 ulatory authority that issued the license. The quali21 fied regulatory authority shall at a minimum ensure 

22 the suitability requirements of subsection (c) con23 tinue to be satisfied before approving any such 

24 transfer or change. 

25 (j) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.— 


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1 (1) DETERMINATION OF INTERNET POKER.— 

2 (A) INITIAL DETERMINATION BY QUALI3 FIED REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—A determina4 tion of whether a game, hand, tournament, or 

5 other contest of a licensee is Internet poker 

6 shall be made in the first instance by the quali7 fied regulatory authority that issued the license 

8 to such licensee under this title. 

9 (B) CHALLENGES.— 

10 (i) CHALLENGE MADE WITH SEC11 RETARY.—A licensee or qualified regu12 latory authority may file a challenge with 

13 the Secretary regarding any determination 

14 of the qualified regulatory authority under 

15 subparagraph (A) that a game, hand, tour16 nament, or other contest of another li17 censee is Internet poker. 

18 (ii) DETERMINATION MADE BY SEC19 RETARY WITHIN 30 DAYS.—If a challenge 

20 is made under clause (i), the Secretary 

21 shall make a determination of whether the 

22 game, hand, tournament, or other contest 

23 is Internet poker not later than 30 days 

24 after the date on which the challenge is 

25 made. 


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1 (iii) OPERATION UNTIL DETERMINA2 TION.—A licensee that offers a game, 

3 hand, tournament, or other contest that is 

4 challenged under clause (i) may continue 

5 to offer such game, hand, tournament, or 

6 other contest until the Secretary makes a 

7 determination under clause (ii). 

8 (C) APPEALS.—Not later than 30 days 

9 after the date on which the Secretary makes a 

10 determination under subparagraph (B)(iii), a li11 censee or a qualified regulatory authority may 

12 appeal such determination to the United States 

13 District Court for the District of Columbia. 

14 Such court shall set aside the Secretary’s deter15 mination if the court determines that the Sec16 retary’s determination was— 

17 (i) arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of 

18 discretion, or otherwise not consistent with 

19 law; or 

20 (ii) without observance of procedure 

21 required by law. 

22 (2) CHALLENGES UNDER STATE OR FEDERALLY

23 RECOGNIZED INDIAN TRIBAL LAW.—Except as pro24 vided in paragraph (1) and unless otherwise specifi25 cally provided in this title, actions taken by a qualiVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:25 Jul 12, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00053 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2666.IH H2666

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1 fied regulatory authority may be challenged by appli2 cants and licensees only as permitted under the law 

3 of the State or federally recognized Indian tribe in 

4 which the qualified regulatory authority is located. 

5 (3) SUMMONS.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

7 issue a summons with respect to an applicant 

8 or licensee necessary to carry out the provisions 

9 of this title. 

10 (B) PRODUCTION AT DESIGNATED SITE.— 

11 A summons issued by the Secretary pursuant to 

12 this paragraph may require that books, papers, 

13 records, or other data stored or maintained at 

14 any place be produced at any— 

15 (i) business location of a licensee or 

16 applicant for a license; 

17 (ii) designated location in the State or 

18 Indian lands of the applicable qualified 

19 regulatory authority; or 

20 (iii) designated location in the District 

21 of Columbia. 

22 (C) NO LIABILITY FOR EXPENSES.—The 

23 Secretary shall not be liable for any expense in24 curred in connection with the production of 


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1 books, papers, records, or other data under this 

2 paragraph. 

3 (D) SERVICE OF SUMMONS.—Service of a 

4 summons issued under this subsection may be 

5 by registered mail or in such other manner cal6 culated to give actual notice as determined by 

7 the Secretary. 

8 (E) AUTHORIZATION TO INVOKE AID OF

9 COURTS.—The Secretary may invoke the aid of 

10 any court of the United States to compel com11 pliance with the summons within the jurisdic12 tion of which— 

13 (i) the investigation which gave rise to 

14 the summons or the examination is being 

15 or has been carried on; 

16 (ii) the person summoned is an inhab17 itant; or 

18 (iii) the person summoned carries on 

19 business or may be found. 

20 (F) POWER OF COURTS TO COMPEL AP21 PEARANCE.—The court may issue an order re22 quiring the person summoned to appear before 

23 the Secretary— 

24 (i) to produce books, papers, records, 

25 and other data; 


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1 (ii) to give testimony as may be nec2 essary to explain how such material was 

3 compiled and maintained; 

4 (iii) to allow the Secretary to examine 

5 the business of a licensee; and 

6 (iv) to pay the costs of the proceeding. 

7 (G) CONTUMACY OR REFUSAL.—Any fail8 ure to obey the order of the court under this 

9 paragraph may be punished by the court as a 

10 contempt thereof. All process in any case under 

11 this subsection may be served in any judicial 

12 district in which such person may be found. 

13 SEC. 105. ENFORCEMENT. 

14 (a) DISCIPLINARY ACTION.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—A licensee may be subject to 

16 disciplinary action, including suspension or revoca17 tion of its license, by a qualified regulatory authority 

18 that issued a license to the licensee or by the Sec19 retary if the licensee fails to comply with any provi20 sion of this title, any regulation prescribed there21 under, or any other applicable provision of State or 

22 tribal law. 

23 (2) INITIATING ENFORCEMENT.—Only the Sec24 retary or the qualified regulatory authority which 


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1 granted the license may initiate disciplinary action 

2 under this title. 

3 (3) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this sub4 section shall be construed to prohibit a law enforce5 ment authority or regulatory body that has authority 

6 over a licensee or an affiliated person, independent 

7 from this title, from taking action under the law of 

8 that law enforcement authority or regulatory body. 

9 (4) DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—A qualified regulatory 

11 authority shall commence disciplinary action 

12 under this subsection against a licensee upon 

13 service of a formal written complaint upon the 

14 licensee, with a copy forwarded to the Sec15 retary, that sets forth the grounds for the dis16 ciplinary action and the proposed penalty that 

17 is being sought, which may include any or all 

18 of the imposition of a fine as provided pursuant 

19 to subsection (m)(1) or limitation, condition, 

20 suspension, or revocation of the license. 

21 (B) IN ACCORDANCE WITH LAW OF JURIS22 DICTION OF QUALIFIED REGULATORY AUTHOR23 ITY.—The disciplinary process shall proceed ac24 cording to the law of the jurisdiction of the ap25 plicable qualified regulatory authority. 


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1 (5) FINALITY OF ACTION AND APPEALS.— 

2 (A) FINALITY.—Any disciplinary action 

3 shall be treated as a final action. 

4 (B) ACTION BY QUALIFIED REGULATORY

5 AUTHORITIES.—A licensee aggrieved by discipli6 nary action by a qualified regulatory authority 

7 may file an appeal in the jurisdiction where the 

8 qualified regulatory authority taking such ac9 tion is located only to the extent permitted by 

10 the law of such jurisdiction. 

11 (C) ACTION BY SECRETARY.—A licensee 

12 aggrieved by disciplinary action by the Sec13 retary may file an appeal in the United States 

14 District Court for the District of Columbia. 

15 Such court shall set aside the action if it deter16 mines that the action was— 

17 (i) arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of 

18 discretion, or otherwise not consistent with 

19 law; or 

20 (ii) without observance of procedure 

21 required by law. 

22 (6) PENDING APPEAL.—During the period in 

23 which a suspension or revocation of an existing li24 cense is being challenged through a pending judicial 

25 proceeding, the court handling the challenge may 


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1 allow the licensee to continue offering bets and wa2 gers in full compliance with the terms of its existing 

3 license and any other conditions the court considers 

4 necessary, if the court determines that— 

5 (A) the appellant has a reasonable likeli6 hood of success on the merits; and 

7 (B) allowing the appellant to continue of8 fering bets and wagers while the appeal is pend9 ing will not threaten the public interest. 

10 (7) RETURN OF CUSTOMER FUNDS.—If a li11 censee’s license is revoked and no appeal pursuant 

12 to paragraph (5) is pending, the licensee shall— 

13 (A) return all customer funds in an orderly 

14 manner not later than 30 days after the date 

15 of the revocation of the license; or 

16 (B) place in escrow those sums return of 

17 which to United States customers is not feasible 

18 due to change in customer address, bank de19 tails, or similar difficulty, in an account with a 

20 financial institution in the United States for 

21 safekeeping and orderly disposition by the Sec22 retary. 

23 (8) REFERRAL TO ATTORNEY GENERAL.—If, in 

24 the course of carrying out the provisions of this title, 

25 the Secretary or a qualified regulatory authority 


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1 finds a substantial basis to believe that a person has 

2 violated section 103, the Secretary or qualified regu3 latory authority shall refer such matter to the Attor4 ney General. 

5 (b) CIVIL MONEY PENALTIES.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

7 (A) PENALTIES ASSESSED BY QUALIFIED

8 REGULATORY AUTHORITIES.—A qualified regu9 latory authority may assess upon any licensee 

10 or other person subject to the requirements of 

11 this title for each violation of this title or any 

12 regulation prescribed or order issued under this 

13 title, a civil penalty of not more than the great14 er of— 

15 (i) the amount involved in the viola16 tion, if any; 

17 (ii) $250,000 for an individual and 

18 $750,000 for a corporation; or 

19 (iii) such other amount as provided 

20 under the applicable State or tribal law of 

21 the qualified regulatory authority. 

22 (B) PENALTIES ASSESSED BY SEC23 RETARY.—The Secretary may assess upon any 

24 licensee or other person subject to the require25 ments of this title for each violation of this title 


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1 or any regulation prescribed or order issued 

2 under this title, a civil penalty of not more than 

3 the greater of— 

4 (i) the amount involved in the viola5 tion, if any; or 

6 (ii) $250,000 for an individual and 

7 $750,000 for a corporation. 

8 (C) NOT CUMULATIVE.— 

9 (i) IN GENERAL.—The penalties au10 thorized under subparagraphs (A) and (B) 

11 shall not be cumulative and only one such 

12 penalty may be assessed per violation. 

13 (ii) CONSTRUCTION.—Clause (i) shall 

14 not be construed to limit the authority of 

15 a qualifying body or the Secretary, as the 

16 case may be, to pursue a civil penalty for 

17 each violation of a related series of viola18 tions. 

19 (D) FAILURE TO OBTAIN A LICENSE.— 

20 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 

21 Secretary may assess upon a person that is re22 quired to obtain a license under this title, but 

23 fails to obtain a license under this title, a civil 

24 penalty of not more than the greater of— 


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1 (i) the amount of bets or wagers 

2 taken by the person from players in the 

3 United States during the period that a li4 cense was needed but not held by the per5 son; or 

6 (ii) $1,000,000 per day that the per7 son accepts bets or wagers from players in 

8 the United States during the period that a 

9 license was needed but not held by the per10 son. 

11 (E) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

12 paragraph shall be construed to affect the abil13 ity of a law enforcement official to seek crimi14 nal penalties against a person. 

15 (2) ASSESSMENT.— 

16 (A) ENFORCEMENT BY QUALIFIED REGU17 LATORY AUTHORITIES.—Qualified regulatory 

18 authorities and such other entities as are au19 thorized by applicable State and tribal law shall 

20 enforce the provisions of this title under the law 

21 of the applicable State or federally recognized 

22 Indian tribe, and penalties shall be determined, 

23 reviewable, collectable, and disposed of as pro24 vided under such law. 

25 (B) ENFORCEMENT BY SECRETARY.— 


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1 (i) WRITTEN NOTICE.—Any penalty 

2 imposed under paragraph (1)(B) shall be 

3 assessed and collected by the Secretary by 

4 written notice. 

5 (ii) FINALITY OF ASSESSMENT.—If, 

6 with respect to any assessment under para7 graph (1)(B), a hearing is not requested 

8 pursuant to clause (v) within the period of 

9 time allowed under such clause, the assess10 ment shall constitute a final agency order. 

11 (iii) AUTHORITY TO MODIFY OR

12 REMIT PENALTY.—The Secretary may 

13 compromise, modify, or remit any penalty 

14 which the Secretary may assess or has al15 ready assessed under paragraph (1)(B). 

16 (iv) MITIGATING FACTORS.—In deter17 mining the amount of any penalty imposed 

18 under paragraph (1)(B), the Secretary 

19 shall take into account the appropriateness 

20 of the penalty with respect to the fol21 lowing: 

22 (I) The size of the financial re23 sources and the good faith of the per24 son against whom the penalty is as25 sessed. 


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1 (II) The gravity of the violation. 

2 (III) The history of previous vio3 lations. 

4 (IV) Such other matters as jus5 tice may require. 

6 (v) HEARING.—The person against 

7 whom any penalty is assessed under para8 graph (1)(B) shall be afforded an agency 

9 hearing if such person submits a request 

10 for such hearing not later than 20 days 

11 after the date of the issuance of the notice 

12 of assessment. 

13 (vi) COLLECTION.— 

14 (I) REFERRAL.—If any person 

15 fails to pay an assessment after any 

16 penalty assessed under this subpara17 graph has become final, the Secretary 

18 shall recover the amount assessed by 

19 action in the appropriate United 

20 States district court. 

21 (II) SCOPE OF REVIEW.—In any 

22 civil action under subclause (I), the 

23 validity and appropriateness of the 

24 penalty shall be subject to review for 

25 abuse of agency discretion. 


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1 (vii) DISBURSEMENT.—All penalties 

2 collected under authority of paragraph 

3 (1)(B) shall be deposited into the Treasury 

4 of the United States. 

5 (3) CONDITION FOR LICENSURE.—Payment by 

6 a licensee of any civil penalty assessed under this 

7 subsection that has become final shall be a require8 ment for the retention of its license. 

9 SEC. 106. COMPULSIVE GAMING, RESPONSIBLE GAMING, 

10 AND SELF-EXCLUSION PROGRAM REQUIRE11 MENTS. 

12 (a) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—Each qualified regu13 latory authority shall, before issuing any licenses under 

14 this title, establish requirements for the development of 

15 a gambling addiction, responsible gaming, and self exclu16 sion program that each licensee of that qualified regu17 latory authority shall implement as a condition of licen18 sure. Such requirements shall also provide for the estab19 lishment of a program to alert the public to the existence, 

20 consequences, and availability of the self-exclusion list es21 tablished under subsection (c). 

22 (b) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.—At a minimum, each 

23 qualified regulatory authority shall require that licens24 ees— 


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1 (1) provide informational materials written in 

2 plain language about responsible gaming, including 

3 information about the self-exclusion list established 

4 under subsection (c) and how a player may request 

5 placement on the list, each time a player signs in to 

6 make a bet or wager, which materials shall be pro7 vided via a prominently displayed hyperlink or com8 parable mechanism; 

9 (2) provide informational materials about re10 sponsible gaming to any player that requests such 

11 materials; 

12 (3) make continuously available individualized 

13 responsible gaming options that any customer may 

14 choose, including allowing customers to self-limit 

15 their deposit, time and bet amounts, as well as self16 limit their access to the issuance of credit, check 

17 cashing, or direct mail marketing by the licensee, in 

18 each case as and to the extent that the qualified reg19 ulatory authority may consider appropriate; 

20 (4) ensure to a reasonable degree of certainty 

21 that persons on the list of self-excluded persons es22 tablished pursuant to subsection (c) are prevented 

23 from initiating any bets or wagers within the scope 

24 of this title; 


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1 (5) ensure that the information required under 

2 this subsection is clearly and prominently made 

3 available by the licensee in each language in which 

4 services of the Internet poker facility of the licensee 

5 are offered; and 

6 (6) ensure that the qualified regulatory author7 ity adopt any practices that the Secretary rec8 ommends to protect consumers, taking into account 

9 the National Council on Problem Gambling Internet 

10 Responsible Gambling Standards. 

11 (c) LIST OF PERSONS SELF-EXCLUDED.— 

12 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

13 (A) LISTS MAINTAINED BY QUALIFIED

14 REGULATORY AUTHORITIES.—Each qualified 

15 regulatory authority shall establish and main16 tain a list of persons self-excluded from playing 

17 Internet poker through Internet poker facilities 

18 licensed by the qualified regulatory authority. 

19 Each week, each qualified regulatory authority 

20 shall submit to the Secretary a current copy of 

21 the list. 

22 (B) MASTER LIST MAINTAINED BY SEC23 RETARY.—The Secretary shall establish and 

24 maintain a master list of all persons self-ex25 cluded from playing Internet poker through 


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1 Internet poker facilities licensed under this title. 

2 Such list shall consist of all persons submitted 

3 under subparagraph (A). The Secretary shall 

4 make the master list available to all qualified 

5 regulatory authorities and licensees. 

6 (C) PLACEMENT REQUEST.—Any person 

7 may request placement on the list of self-ex8 cluded persons by— 

9 (i) acknowledging in a manner to be 

10 established by each qualified regulatory au11 thority with respect to its licensees that 

12 the person wishes to be denied gaming 

13 privileges within the scope of this title; and 

14 (ii) agreeing that, during any period 

15 of voluntary exclusion, the person may not 

16 collect any winnings or recover any losses 

17 resulting from any gaming activity at any 

18 Internet poker facility of a licensee. 

19 (2) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

21 subparagraph (B), the United States, the Sec22 retary, a qualified regulatory authority, the 

23 State, or federally recognized Indian tribe in 

24 which that qualified regulatory authority is lo25 cated, an enforcement agent, licensee, or any 


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1 employee or agent thereof, shall not be liable to 

2 any self-excluded person or to any other party 

3 in any judicial or administrative proceeding for 

4 any harm, monetary or otherwise, which may 

5 arise as a result of— 

6 (i) any failure to withhold gaming 

7 privileges from, or to restore gaming privi8 leges to, a self-excluded person; 

9 (ii) otherwise permitting a self-ex10 cluded person to engage in gaming activity 

11 while on the list of self-excluded persons; 

12 or 

13 (iii) disclosure of information about 

14 individuals placed on the list of self-ex15 cluded persons. 

16 (B) LICENSEES.—A licensee or employee 

17 or agent thereof may be liable to a self-excluded 

18 person in a judicial or administrative pro19 ceeding for a harm described in subparagraph 

20 (A) to the extent provided under the law of the 

21 State or federally recognized Indian tribe of the 

22 qualified regulatory authority that issued the li23 cense. 

24 (C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

25 this paragraph shall be construed to prevent the 


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1 Secretary or a qualified regulatory authority 

2 from assessing a regulatory sanction against a 

3 licensee or person for failing to comply with a 

4 provision of this section or a regulation pre5 scribed thereunder or for misuse of any list of 

6 self-excluded persons for purposes not author7 ized under this section. 

8 (3) DISCLOSURE PROVISIONS.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

10 other provision of Federal, State, or tribal law, 

11 the list of self-excluded persons shall not be 

12 open to public inspection. 

13 (B) AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE.—If necessary 

14 to effectuate the self-exclusion purposes of this 

15 subsection, any licensee may disclose the identi16 ties of persons on the self-excluded list to any 

17 significant vendor, service provider, or affiliated 

18 company to the extent that the significant ven19 dor, service provider, or affiliated company 

20 maintains such information under confiden21 tiality provisions comparable to those in this 

22 subsection. 

23 (d) GAMING BY PROHIBITED PERSONS.— 

24 (1) PROHIBITION ON BENEFITTING FROM PRO25 HIBITED GAMING ACTIVITY.—A person who is proVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:25 Jul 12, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00070 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2666.IH H2666

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1 hibited from gaming with a licensee by law, or by 

2 order of the Secretary, a qualified regulatory author3 ity, or any court of competent jurisdiction, including 

4 any person on the self-exclusion list under subsection 

5 (c), shall not collect, in any manner or proceeding, 

6 any winnings or recover any losses arising as a re7 sult of any prohibited gaming activity. 

8 (2) FORFEITURE.—In addition to any other 

9 penalty provided by law, any money or thing of value 

10 that has been obtained by, or is owed to, any prohib11 ited person by a licensee as a result of bets or wa12 gers made by a prohibited person after the applica13 ble prohibition has become effective shall be subject 

14 to forfeiture by order of the Secretary or a qualified 

15 regulatory authority, following notice to the prohib16 ited person and opportunity to be heard. 

17 (3) DEPOSIT OF FORFEITED FUNDS.—Any 

18 funds forfeited pursuant to this subsection shall be 

19 deposited into the Treasury of the United States, or, 

20 in the case of a forfeiture to a qualified regulatory 

21 authority, as provided by the applicable State or 

22 tribal law. 

23 (e) REQUIREMENTS WITH RESPECT TO CHILD SUP24 PORT DELINQUENTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—When it is made known to 

2 the Secretary or a qualified regulatory authority by 

3 a Federal or State court or a competent qualified 

4 regulatory authority involved with the administration 

5 or enforcement of a court-ordered child support pay6 ment that a particular individual is delinquent with 

7 respect to court-ordered child support payments, the 

8 Secretary shall include that individual on the list es9 tablished under subsection (c). 

10 (2) REMOVAL FROM LIST.—Individuals placed 

11 on the list pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be re12 moved from such list if the court or agency that 

13 made such individual’s delinquency known to the 

14 Secretary notifies the Secretary that such individual 

15 is no longer delinquent. 

16 (f) AUTHORITY TO ADDRESS GAMBLING ADDICTION

17 IN SAMHSA AUTHORITIES.—Section 501(d) of the Pub18 lic Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290aa(d)) is amended— 

19 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

20 (17); 

21 (2) by striking the period at the end of para22 graph (18) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

23 (3) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(19) establish and implement programs for the 

2 identification, prevention, and treatment of patholog3 ical and other problem gambling.’’. 

4 (g) COMPILATION OF DATASETS ON PLAYER BEHAV5 IOR.—The Secretary shall compile and make available to 

6 the public, on the Web site of the Secretary, datasets on 

7 player behavior from customer tracking data collected or 

8 generated by loyalty programs, player tracking software, 

9 online gambling transactions, or any other information 

10 system. The Secretary shall ensure that personally identi11 fying information, including player name, street address, 

12 and bank or credit information is removed from the data. 

13 The data shall retain information on player characteristics 

14 including gender, age and region of residence, player be15 havior including frequency of play, length of play, speed 

16 of play, denomination of play, amounts wagered and, if 

17 applicable, number of lines or hands played and character18 istics of games played. 

19 (h) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.— 

20 (1) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—No provision of 

21 this section shall be construed as creating a legal 

22 duty in the Secretary, a qualified regulatory author23 ity, a licensee, or any employee or agent thereof to 

24 identify or to exclude compulsive players not on the 

25 list of self-excluded persons. 


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1 (2) NO CAUSE OF ACTION.—The Secretary, a 

2 qualified regulatory authority, a licensee, and any 

3 employee or agent thereof, shall not be liable to any 

4 person in any proceeding for losses or other damages 

5 of any kind arising out of that person’s gaming ac6 tivities based on a claim that the person was a com7 pulsive, problem, or pathological player. 

8 SEC. 107. PROHIBITIONS AND RESTRICTIONS. 

9 (a) PROHIBITION ON BETS OR WAGERS ON GAMES

10 OTHER THAN INTERNET POKER.—No provision of this 

11 title shall be construed to authorize any licensee to accept 

12 a bet or wager on any game, event, or activity that is not 

13 Internet poker. 

14 (b) PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF CREDIT CARDS

15 FOR INTERNET POKER.—No licensee, no person operating 

16 on behalf of a licensee, and no person accepting payment 

17 for or settlement of a bet or wager who intends to transmit 

18 such payment to a person licensee, may accept a bet or 

19 wager or payment for or settlement of a bet or wager that 

20 is transmitted or otherwise facilitated with a credit card 

21 (as defined in section 5362(11) of title 31, United States 

22 Code). 

23 (c) PUBLIC INTERNET POKER PARLORS PROHIB24 ITED.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be considered a vio2 lation of this title to operate an unlicensed place of 

3 public accommodation, club (including a club or as4 sociation limited to dues-paying members or similar 

5 restricted groups), or similar establishment in which 

6 computer terminals or similar access devices are 

7 made available to be used principally for the purpose 

8 of accessing Internet poker facilities. 

9 (2) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—Any person who 

10 violates subsection (a) shall be fined under title 18, 

11 United States Code, imprisoned for not more than 

12 5 years, or both. 

13 (3) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this title shall 

14 be construed to authorize or otherwise to permit the 

15 operation of places of public accommodation, clubs 

16 (including clubs or associations limited to dues-pay17 ing members or similar restricted groups) and simi18 lar establishments that permit access to Internet 

19 poker facilities. 

20 (4) RELATION TO STATE, LOCAL, AND TRIBAL

21 LAW.—Places of public accommodation, clubs, or 

22 similar establishments described in paragraph (1) 

23 shall be subject to all otherwise applicable State, 

24 local, and tribal laws. 


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1 SEC. 108. SAFE HARBOR. 

2 It shall be an affirmative defense to any prosecution 

3 or enforcement action under any provision of Federal, 

4 State, or tribal law that the activity forming the basis of 

5 such prosecution or enforcement action is authorized 

6 under and has been carried out lawfully in accordance with 

7 and under the terms of this title. 

8 SEC. 109. RELATION TO SUBCHAPTER IV OF CHAPTER 53 OF 

9 TITLE 31, UNITED STATES CODE. 

10 Subchapter IV of chapter 53 of title 31, United 

11 States Code, shall not apply to any bet or wager occurring 

12 pursuant to a license issued under this title, subject to 

13 section 110. 

14 SEC. 110. CHEATING AND OTHER FRAUD. 

15 (a) CHEATING AND CHEATING DEVICES PROHIB16 ITED.— 

17 (1) CHEATING PROHIBITED.—No person initi18 ating, receiving, or otherwise making a bet or wager 

19 with a licensee, or sending, receiving, or inviting in20 formation assisting with a bet or wager with a li21 censee shall knowingly violate, attempt to violate, or 

22 assist another in violating the rules of play estab23 lished by the licensee for the purpose of obtaining 

24 prohibited or unfair advantage in any game author25 ized under this title. 


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1 (2) CHEATING DEVICES.—Except as provided in 

2 paragraph (3), no person initiating, receiving, or 

3 otherwise making a bet or wager with a licensee, or 

4 sending, receiving, or inviting information assisting 

5 with a bet or wager with a licensee shall knowingly 

6 use, possess, or assist another in the use of, an elec7 tronic, electrical, or mechanical device or software or 

8 other program or tool which is designed, con9 structed, or programmed specifically for use in ob10 taining an advantage in any game authorized under 

11 this title, where such advantage is prohibited or oth12 erwise violates the rules of play established by the li13 censee. 

14 (3) PERMISSIBLE USES.—It shall not be a vio15 lation of this subsection for a licensee, its agents, a 

16 qualified regulatory authority, or its agent to use or 

17 possess a device described in the preceding sentence 

18 if— 

19 (A) such use or possession is solely for 

20 purposes of testing an Internet poker facility; 

21 (B) such device is not used in live play in22 volving actual bets or wagers; and 

23 (C) such device is registered with the Sec24 retary and the qualified regulatory authority 

25 that issued the applicable license. 


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1 (4) DISCLOSURE TO PUBLIC NOT REQUIRED.— 

2 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a reg3 istration under paragraph (3)(C) is not required to 

4 be made available to the public. 

5 (b) ADDITIONAL OFFENSE.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para7 graph (3), no person initiating, receiving, or other8 wise making a bet or wager with a licensee, or send9 ing, receiving, or inviting information assisting with 

10 a bet or wager with a licensee, shall knowingly use, 

11 possess, or assist another in the use of any cheating 

12 device with intent to cheat or defraud any licensee 

13 or other persons placing bets or wagers with such li14 censee. 

15 (2) BOTS.—A software program that makes 

16 bets or wagers according to an algorithm shall con17 stitute a type of cheating device under this sub18 section. 

19 (3) PERMISSIBLE USES.—It shall not be a vio20 lation of this subsection for a licensee, its agents, a 

21 qualified regulatory authority, or its agent to use or 

22 posses a device described in paragraph (1) or (2) 

23 if— 

24 (A) such use or possession is solely for 

25 purposes of testing an Internet poker facility; 


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1 (B) such device is not used in live play in2 volving actual bets or wagers; and 

3 (C) such device is registered with the 

4 qualified regulatory authority that issued the 

5 applicable license. 

6 (4) DISCLOSURE TO PUBLIC NOT REQUIRED.— 

7 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a reg8 istration under paragraph (3)(C) is not required to 

9 be made available to the public. 

10 (c) PERMANENT INJUNCTION.—Upon conviction of a 

11 person for violation of this section, the court may enter 

12 a permanent injunction enjoining such person from initi13 ating, receiving, or otherwise making bets or wagers or 

14 sending, receiving, or inviting information assisting in the 

15 placing of bets or wagers. 

16 (d) CRIMINAL PENALTY.—Whoever violates sub17 section (a) or (b) shall be fined under title 18, United 

18 States Code, or imprisoned for not more than 3 years, or 

19 both. 

20 (e) REPORTS.— 

21 (1) RECOMMENDED MINIMUM STANDARDS.— 

22 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

23 of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress 

24 a report containing the recommendations of the Sec25 retary on what minimum standards qualifying bodies 


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1 should adopt to carry out the requirements of sub2 section (a). 

3 (2) IDENTIFICATION OF THREATS TO OPER4 ATION OF INTERNET POKER FACILITIES.—Not later 

5 than 1 year after the date that licenses are first 

6 issued under section 118(a), the Director of the Na7 tional Institute of Standards and Technology shall 

8 submit to Congress a report that identifies threats 

9 to the integrity of Internet poker facilities operated 

10 by licensees, including identification of technologies 

11 that could be used to hack computer networks, fa12 cilitate cheating, or otherwise place consumers at 

13 risk of fraud or monetary loss. 

14 SEC. 111. CONSTRUCTION AND RELATION TO OTHER LAW. 

15 (a) NO IMPACT ON EXISTING LAWFUL GAMES.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—If bets or wagers on certain 

17 games of skill are not regarded as gambling under 

18 all provisions of Federal, State, or tribal law in ef19 fect as of the date of enactment of this Act— 

20 (A) nothing in this title shall be construed 

21 to require licensing under this title with respect 

22 to such games; and 

23 (B) fees paid to participate in such games 

24 shall not be regarded as bets or wagers for pur25 poses of this title. 


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1 (2) RELIANCE.—Nothing in this title may be 

2 relied on as support for the legality or permissibility 

3 of games described in paragraph (1) without compli4 ance with the licensing and other requirements of 

5 this title. 

6 (b) NO EFFECT ON EXISTING LAW.—Nothing in this 

7 section shall be construed to repeal, to amend, or to affect 

8 the interpretation of any provision of State, or tribal law 

9 that was in effect before the date of enactment of this 

10 Act that— 

11 (1) prohibits, restricts, or otherwise addresses 

12 bets or wagers; or 

13 (2) prohibits fraud, unfair or deceptive acts or 

14 practices, or other criminal activity. 

15 (c) PREEMPTION OF STATE AND TRIBAL LAWS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise ex17 pressly provided in this title and excluding any pro18 hibitions described in section 104(a)(3), the provi19 sions of this title shall supersede any provisions of 

20 the law of any State or federally recognized Indian 

21 tribe expressly relating to the permitting, prohib22 iting, licensing, or regulating of Internet poker facili23 ties, including Internet poker facilities, and the law 

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1 ing, or regulation of gambling, except to the extent 

2 such State or tribal laws are not inconsistent with 

3 this title. 

4 (2) LOTTERIES.—No provision of this title shall 

5 be construed to have any effect on the rights, privi6 leges, or obligations of a State or tribal lottery as 

7 may be provided under other applicable Federal, 

8 State, or tribal law. 

9 (3) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this title 

10 may be construed to limit the applicability or en11 forcement of any State or tribal consumer protection 

12 law or preempt the applicability of State or tribal 

13 trespass, contract, or tort law. 

14 (d) RELATION TO GAMBLING DEVICES TRANSPOR15 TATION ACT.—Equipment used by a licensee or significant 

16 vendor in the furtherance of licensed activities pursuant 

17 to this title (but not to the extent it is used for other pur18 poses) shall not be considered a gambling device within 

19 the meaning of section 1 of the Act of January 2, 1951, 

20 prohibiting the transportation of gambling devices in 

21 interstate and foreign commerce (15 U.S.C. 1171). 

22 (e) NO IMPACT ON INDIAN GAMING REGULATORY

23 ACT.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—No provision of this title or 

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1 dian tribe or State pursuant to this title shall have 

2 any effect on non-Internet gaming activities within 

3 the scope of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 

4 U.S.C. 2710) or any successor provisions or on any 

5 tribal-State compacts or authorities pursuant there6 to. 

7 (2) TRIBAL STATUS OR CATEGORY NOT AF8 FECTED.—Tribal operation of Internet poker facili9 ties under this title shall not be considered class II 

10 or class III gaming under such section, and a feder11 ally recognized Indian tribe’s status, category, or 

12 class under such section shall not impact its status 

13 or ability to offer bets or wagers pursuant to this 

14 title. 

15 (3) NEW NEGOTIATIONS NOT REQUIRED.— 

16 (A) FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED INDIAN

17 TRIBES.—The fact that a federally recognized 

18 Indian tribe is operating under a license issued 

19 pursuant to this title or that a tribal regulatory 

20 body is acting as a qualified body pursuant to 

21 this title shall not require a federally recognized 

22 Indian tribe to negotiate a new agreement, limi23 tation, or other provision of tribal-State com24 pact, agreement, or other understanding with 

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1 gard to any bet or wager occurring pursuant to 

2 a license issued under this title. 

3 (B) STATES.—The fact that a State has 

4 prohibited or limited Internet bets or wagers 

5 under section 104(a)(3) or that a State regu6 latory body is acting as a qualified body pursu7 ant to this title shall not require the State to 

8 negotiate a new agreement, limitation, or other 

9 provision of tribal-State compact, agreement, or 

10 other understanding with respect to gaming or 

11 revenue-sharing, with regard to any bet or 

12 wager occurring pursuant to a license issued 

13 under this title. 

14 SEC. 112. REGULATIONS. 

15 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

16 of this Act, the Secretary shall prescribe such regulations 

17 as the Secretary considers necessary and where expressly 

18 required or authorized to carry out this title. 

19 SEC. 113. ANNUAL REPORTS. 

20 (a) LICENSING AND REGULATION OF INTERNET

21 POKER FACILITIES.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

22 that licenses first issue under this title and annually there23 after, the Secretary shall transmit to Congress a report 

24 on the licensing and regulation of Internet poker facilities 

25 under this title, including— 


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1 (1) the amount of fees collected under section 

2 104(e) and, in cooperation with the Secretary of the 

3 Treasury, an estimate of the amount of income tax 

4 revenue that is attributable to the operation of 

5 Internet poker facilities during the period covered by 

6 the report; 

7 (2) a list of qualified regulatory authorities, the 

8 number of licensees reviewed by the qualified regu9 latory authorities under this title, and the outcomes 

10 of such reviews; 

11 (3) a description of the efforts the Secretary 

12 has undertaken to ensure that qualified regulatory 

13 authorities are properly issuing licenses and regu14 lating licensees under this title; 

15 (4) a detailed description of each type of game 

16 offered by licensees and how each type is consistent 

17 with the definition of poker under section 102; and 

18 (5) any other information the Secretary deter19 mines may be useful to Congress. 

20 (b) CONSUMER PROTECTION.—Not later than 1 year 

21 after the date that licenses first issue under this title and 

22 annually thereafter, the Secretary shall transmit to the 

23 Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 

24 Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

25 Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report on 


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1 commercial and regulatory practices carried out to protect 

2 consumers with respect to Internet poker, including the 

3 practices carried out pursuant to the requirements of sec4 tion 106 and the regulations prescribed pursuant to such 

5 section. Such report shall include— 

6 (1) a detailed description of the efforts of each 

7 qualified regulatory authority to protect consumers 

8 from unfair or deceptive acts or practices, including 

9 deceptive advertising and marketing to minors; 

10 (2) a description of the practices that the Sec11 retary recommends a qualified regulatory authority 

12 to adopt to protect consumers; 

13 (3) such recommendations as the Secretary may 

14 have for legislative action as the Secretary considers 

15 necessary to protect consumers with respect to 

16 Internet poker; and 

17 (4) such other information as the Secretary 

18 considers appropriate. 

19 SEC. 114. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided in 

21 this title, the provisions of this title shall take effect on 

22 the date that is 30 days after the date of enactment of 

23 this Act. 

24 (b) REGULATIONS REQUIRED BEFORE ISSUING LI25 CENSES.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this 


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1 title, a qualified regulatory authority may not issue a li2 cense under this title before the later of— 

3 (1) the date on which the Secretary prescribes 

4 final regulations under section 113; 

5 (2) the date on which the Secretary of the 

6 Treasury prescribes final regulations pursuant to 

7 subsections (a) and (d) of section 203; and 

8 (3) the date on which the Director of the Fi9 nancial Crimes Enforcement Network submits to the 

10 Secretary of the Treasury a list of unlicensed Inter11 net gambling enterprises pursuant to section 

12 5369(a)(1)(B) of title 31, United States Code, as 

13 added by section 202(a). 

14 TITLE II—STRENGTHENING OF 

15 UNLAWFUL INTERNET GAM16 BLING ENFORCEMENT ACT 

17 OF 2006 

18 SEC. 201. FINANCIAL TRANSACTION PROVIDERS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter IV of chapter 53 of 

20 title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

21 end the following: 

22 ‘‘§ 5368. Liability of financial transaction providers 

23 ‘‘(a) LIABILITY FOR CERTAIN FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

24 AND TRANSACTIONS.—A financial transaction provider 

25 shall not be held liable for engaging in a financial activity 


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1 or transaction, including a payments processing activity, 

2 in connection with a bet or wager permitted by the Inter3 net Poker Freedom Act of 2013 or the Interstate Horse4 racing Act of 1978 (15 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.) unless the 

5 financial transaction provider has actual knowledge that 

6 the financial activity or transaction was conducted in vio7 lation of either such Act or any other applicable provision 

8 of Federal or State law. 

9 ‘‘(b) NO LIABILITY FOR BLOCKING OR REFUSING TO

10 HONOR CERTAIN TRANSACTIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A financial transaction pro12 vider that takes an action described in paragraph 

13 (2) with respect to a transaction shall not be liable 

14 to any party for that action if the financial trans15 action provider takes the action because the origi16 nator of the transaction or a party to the trans17 action is— 

18 ‘‘(A) a person or entity that is included in 

19 the list of unlicensed Internet gambling enter20 prises required by section 5369(a); 

21 ‘‘(B) a person or entity that the financial 

22 transaction provider reasonably believes is in23 cluded in that list; 

24 ‘‘(C) a person or entity that is included in 

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1 prises made available to the financial trans2 action provider by the Secretary under section 

3 5369(a)(3); 

4 ‘‘(D) a person or entity that the financial 

5 transaction provider reasonably believes is in6 cluded in a list described in subparagraph (C); 

7 ‘‘(E) a person or entity that is dem8 onstrated to be an unlicensed Internet gambling 

9 enterprise based on information, other than a 

10 list described in subparagraph (C), that is made 

11 available to the financial transaction provider; 

12 or 

13 ‘‘(F) a person or entity that the financial 

14 transaction provider reasonably believes is dem15 onstrated to be an unlicensed Internet gambling 

16 enterprise based on information described in 

17 subparagraph (E). 

18 ‘‘(2) ACTIONS DESCRIBED.—A financial trans19 action provider takes an action described in this 

20 paragraph if the financial transaction provider— 

21 ‘‘(A) identifies and blocks a transaction; 

22 ‘‘(B) prevents or prohibits the acceptance 

23 of its products or service in connection with a 

24 transaction or otherwise refuses to honor a 

25 transaction; or 


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1 ‘‘(C) closes an account or ends a financial 

2 relationship.’’. 

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

4 for chapter 53 of title 31, United States Code, is amended 

5 by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘5368. Liability of financial transaction providers.’’. 

6 (c) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Section 

7 5362(11)(B)(i) of title 31, United States Code, is amend8 ed by striking ‘‘section 903(6)(E)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

9 903(7)(E)’’. 

10 SEC. 202. LIST OF UNLICENSED INTERNET GAMBLING EN11 TERPRISES. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter IV of chapter 53 of 

13 title 31, United States Code, as amended by section 

14 201(a), is further amended by adding at the end the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘§ 5369. List of unlicensed Internet gambling enter17 prises 

18 ‘‘(a) LIST OF UNLICENSED INTERNET GAMBLING

19 ENTERPRISES.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) identify unlicensed Internet gambling 

22 enterprises in accordance with the procedures 

23 described in subsection (b); 

24 ‘‘(B) not later than 120 days after the 

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1 dom Act of 2013, submit to the Secretary a list 

2 of unlicensed Internet gambling enterprises that 

3 includes the information described in paragraph 

4 (2); and 

5 ‘‘(C) not less frequently than every 60 days 

6 thereafter, submit to the Secretary an updated 

7 list that reflects the results of subsequent inves8 tigations carried out under this section. 

9 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—The informa10 tion described in this paragraph is, with respect to 

11 each unlicensed Internet gambling enterprise in12 cluded on the list required by paragraph (1), the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(A) All known Internet Web site address15 es of the enterprise. 

16 ‘‘(B) The name of any person who con17 trols, finances, manages, supervises, directs, or 

18 owns all or part of the enterprise (as such 

19 terms are used in section 1955 of title 18). 

20 ‘‘(C) To the extent known, information 

21 identifying the financial agents and account 

22 numbers of the enterprise and the persons de23 scribed in subparagraph (B). 

24 ‘‘(3) DISTRIBUTION OF LIST.—Not later than 

25 10 days after receiving the list or an updated version 


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1 of the list required by paragraph (1) from the Direc2 tor, the Secretary shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) post the information provided under 

4 subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2) on 

5 the Internet Web site of the Department of the 

6 Treasury; and 

7 ‘‘(B) provide to each person that is re8 quired to comply with the regulations pre9 scribed pursuant to section 5364 a copy of the 

10 information included with the list required by 

11 paragraph (1) in an electronic format compat12 ible with the list of Specially Designated Na13 tionals and Blocked Persons maintained by the 

14 Office of Foreign Assets Control. 

15 ‘‘(b) PROCEDURES FOR IDENTIFYING UNLICENSED

16 INTERNET GAMBLING ENTERPRISES.— 

17 ‘‘(1) INVESTIGATIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) INITIAL INVESTIGATION.—Not later 

19 than the date that is 60 days after the date of 

20 enactment of the Internet Poker Freedom Act 

21 of 2013, the Director shall complete an initial 

22 investigation of entities that appear to be unli23 censed Internet gambling enterprises. 

24 ‘‘(B) SUBSEQUENT INVESTIGATIONS.— 

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1 quired by subparagraph (A), the Director shall 

2 regularly investigate entities that appear to be 

3 unlicensed Internet gambling enterprises. 

4 ‘‘(2) REQUESTS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any Federal, State, 

6 tribal, or local law enforcement official, any af7 fected sports organization, any person directly 

8 harmed by unlicensed Internet gambling, any fi9 nancial transaction provider, and any inter10 active computer service shall have the right, but 

11 not the obligation, to make a written request to 

12 the Director for the addition of any person to 

13 the list of unlicensed Internet gambling enter14 prises required by subsection (a). 

15 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATIONS; NOTICE TO PER16 SON THAT SUBMITTED A REQUEST.—Not later 

17 than 30 days after receiving a request under 

18 subparagraph (A), the Director shall— 

19 ‘‘(i) determine if the request contains 

20 information sufficient to constitute a prima 

21 facie case that an entity is an unlicensed 

22 Internet gambling enterprise; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) notify the person that submitted 

24 the request of the determination of the Di25 rector. 


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1 ‘‘(3) NOTICE.—Not later than 30 days before 

2 including a person in the list of unlicensed Internet 

3 gambling enterprises required by subsection (a), the 

4 Director shall provide written notice to the person of 

5 the determination of the Director to include the per6 son in the list. 

7 ‘‘(4) OPPORTUNITY TO CONTEST.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A person that receives 

9 notice under paragraph (3) that the Director 

10 has determined to include the person in the list 

11 of unlicensed Internet gambling enterprises re12 quired by subsection (a) may, not later than 30 

13 days after receiving the notice, contest the de14 termination— 

15 ‘‘(i) by submitting a written appeal to 

16 the Director; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) by agreeing in the written appeal 

18 to submit to the jurisdiction of the United 

19 States. 

20 ‘‘(B) EFFECT OF NOT CONTESTING.—If a 

21 person described in subparagraph (A) does not 

22 contest the determination of the Director to in23 clude the person in the list of unlicensed Inter24 net gambling enterprises required by subsection 


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1 (a) in accordance with subparagraph (A), the 

2 Director shall include the person in the list. 

3 ‘‘(5) OPPORTUNITY FOR HEARING.—The Direc4 tor— 

5 ‘‘(A) may not include a person that sub6 mits a written appeal pursuant to paragraph 

7 (4) in the list of unlicensed Internet gambling 

8 enterprises required by subsection (a) until the 

9 Director provides the person with an oppor10 tunity for a hearing; and 

11 ‘‘(B) shall provide the person the oppor12 tunity for a hearing not later than 30 days 

13 after receiving the written appeal from the per14 son. 

15 ‘‘(6) DETERMINATIONS AFTER HEARING.—Not 

16 later than 10 days after the date of a hearing pro17 vided for a person under paragraph (5) (without re18 gard to whether the person appears at the hearing), 

19 the Director shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) determine if the person should be in21 cluded in the list of unlicensed Internet gam22 bling enterprises required by subsection (a); 

23 and 


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1 ‘‘(B) if the Director determines that the 

2 person should be included in the list, add the 

3 person to the list. 

4 ‘‘(7) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A person described in 

6 subparagraph (B) may petition for injunctive 

7 relief in the United States District Court for 

8 the District of Columbia, which shall have ex9 clusive jurisdiction to hear cases arising under 

10 this section. 

11 ‘‘(B) PERSON DESCRIBED.—A person de12 scribed in this subparagraph is a person that 

13 the Director determines to include in the list of 

14 unlicensed Internet gambling enterprises re15 quired by subsection (a)— 

16 ‘‘(i) after the person appears at a 

17 hearing described in paragraph (5); or 

18 ‘‘(ii) that did not receive the notice re19 quired by paragraph (3). 

20 ‘‘(C) BURDEN OF PROOF.—The petitioner 

21 shall have the burden of establishing that the 

22 person should not be included in the list of unli23 censed Internet gambling enterprises required 

24 by subsection (a). 


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1 ‘‘(D) STANDING.—Only persons that the 

2 Director determines to include in the list of un3 licensed Internet gambling enterprises required 

4 by subsection (a) and owners or operators of 

5 such enterprises shall have standing to contest 

6 the determination of the Director. 

7 ‘‘(E) AVAILABLE RELIEF.—The court may 

8 direct the Director and the Secretary not to 

9 add, or to remove, the petitioner from the list 

10 of unlicensed Internet gambling enterprises. 

11 ‘‘(F) UNAVAILABILITY OF OTHER REM12 EDIES.—There shall be no judicial review of a 

13 determination under this section other than 

14 pursuant to this paragraph. 

15 ‘‘(c) EFFECT OF LIST.—A financial transaction pro16 vider shall be deemed to have actual knowledge that a per17 son or entity is an unlicensed Internet gambling enterprise 

18 if— 

19 ‘‘(1) the person or entity is included in the list 

20 of unlicensed Internet gambling enterprises required 

21 by subsection (a); or 

22 ‘‘(2)(A) the person or entity is included in a list 

23 of unlicensed Internet gambling enterprises made 

24 available to the financial transaction provider by the 

25 Secretary under subsection (a)(3); and 


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1 ‘‘(B) information in addition to the list de2 scribed in subparagraph (A) is available to the fi3 nancial transaction provider that demonstrates that 

4 the person or entity is an unlicensed Internet gam5 bling enterprise. 

6 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 ‘‘(1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means 

8 the Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement 

9 Network appointed under section 310(b). 

10 ‘‘(2) SPORTS ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘sports 

11 organization’ means an amateur sports organization 

12 or a professional sports organization (as those terms 

13 are defined in section 3701 of title 28). 

14 ‘‘(3) UNLICENSED INTERNET GAMBLING EN15 TERPRISE.—The term ‘unlicensed Internet gambling 

16 enterprise’ means any person who, on or after the 

17 date of enactment of the Internet Poker Freedom 

18 Act of 2013— 

19 ‘‘(A) violates a provision of section 5363; 

20 or 

21 ‘‘(B) knowingly assists a person in conduct 

22 described in subparagraph (A).’’. 

23 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

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1 tion 201(b), is further amended by adding at the end the 

2 following: 

‘‘5369. Unlicensed Internet gambling enterprises.’’. 

3 SEC. 203. REGULATIONS. 

4 (a) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 

5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 

6 Treasury shall— 

7 (1) prescribe regulations to carry out sections 

8 5368 and 5369 of title 31, United States Code, as 

9 added by sections 201(a) and 202(a), and publish 

10 such regulations in final form in the Federal Reg11 ister; and 

12 (2) prescribe such regulations as the Secretary 

13 of the Treasury considers necessary to ensure com14 pliance with chapter 2 of title I of Public Law 91– 

15 508 (12 U.S.C. 1951 et seq.) and subchapter II of 

16 chapter 53 of title 31, United States Code (com17 monly known, collectively, as the ‘‘Bank Secrecy 

18 Act’’), by licensees, significant vendors to such li19 censees, and financial service providers to such li20 censees (as such terms are defined in section 102). 

21 (b) EXCLUSION OF BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE

22 FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM FROM REQUIREMENT TO

23 PRESCRIBE REGULATIONS CONCERNING PREVENTION OF

24 RESTRICTED TRANSACTIONS.—Subsection (a) of section 

25 5364 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by strikVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:25 Jul 12, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00099 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2666.IH H2666

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1 ing ‘‘Before the end of the 270-day period beginning on 

2 the date of enactment of this subchapter, the Secretary 

3 and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Sys4 tem, in consultation with the Attorney General, shall pre5 scribe regulations (which the Secretary and the Board 

6 jointly determine to be appropriate)’’ and inserting ‘‘The 

7 Secretary shall prescribe regulations’’. 

8 (c) TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF CERTAIN REGULA9 TIONS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

11 during the period beginning on the date of enact12 ment of this Act and ending on the date set forth 

13 in subsection (d), part 233 of title 12, Code of Fed14 eral Regulations, and part 132 of title 31, Code of 

15 Federal Regulations, shall have no force or effect to 

16 the extent that those regulations require or impose 

17 any obligation that is inconsistent with the provi18 sions of title I. 

19 (2) PREVIOUS VIOLATION.—Paragraph (1) shall 

20 not apply with respect to any violation of a regula21 tion described in such paragraph that occurred be22 fore the date of enactment of this Act. 

23 (d) REVISION OF REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 

24 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

25 of the Treasury shall revise part 233 of title 12, Code of 


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1 Federal Regulations, and part 132 of title 31, Code of 

2 Federal Regulations, to conform with the provisions of 

3 title I. 

4 (e) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after 

5 the date on which the Secretary of the Treasury prescribes 

6 regulations under this section, and annually thereafter, 

7 the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the 

8 list required by section 5369(a) of title 31, United States 

9 Code, as added by section 202(a), including the following: 

10 (1) The size of the list. 

11 (2) The number of persons and Web sites 

12 added to and removed from the list. 

13 (3) The number and description of challenges to 

14 inclusion on the list and a description of how such 

15 challenges were resolved. 

16 SEC. 204. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

17 (a) DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE

18 FINANCIAL CRIMES ENFORCEMENT NETWORK.—Section 

19 310(b)(2)(I) of title 31, United States Code, is amended 

20 by striking ‘‘subchapter II’’ and inserting ‘‘subchapters II 

21 and IV’’. 

22 (b) EXCLUSION OF LICENSED INTERNET POKER FA23 CILITY OPERATIONS FROM DEFINITION OF UNLAWFUL

24 INTERNET GAMBLING ENTERPRISE.—Section 5362(10) 

25 of such title is amended— 


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1 (1) in subparagraph (D), by striking clause 

2 (iii); 

3 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as sub4 paragraph (F); and 

5 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(E) LICENSED INTERNET POKER FACILI8 TIES.—The term ‘unlawful Internet gambling’ 

9 does not include an activity carried out by an 

10 Internet poker facility, as such term is defined 

11 in section 102 of the Internet Poker Freedom 

12 Act of 2013, operated by a person under a li13 cense provided under title I of such Act in ac14 cordance with the provisions of such title.’’. 

Æ 


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