106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 692

AN ACT

To prohibit Internet gambling, 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.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Internet Gambling

5 Prohibition Act of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON INTERNET GAMBLING.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 50 of title 18, United

3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing:

5 ‘‘§ 1085. Internet gambling

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

7 ‘‘(1) BETS OR WAGERS.—The term ‘bets or

8 wagers’—

9 ‘‘(A) means the staking or risking by any

10 person of something of value upon the outcome

11 of a contest of others, a sporting event, or a

12 game of chance, upon an agreement or under13 standing that the person or another person will

14 receive something of value based on that out15 come;

16 ‘‘(B) includes the purchase of a chance or

17 opportunity to win a lottery or other prize

18 (which opportunity to win is predominantly sub19 ject to chance);

20 ‘‘(C) includes any scheme of a type de21 scribed in section 3702 of title 28; and

22 ‘‘(D) does not include—

23 ‘‘(i) a bona fide business transaction

24 governed by the securities laws (as defined

25 in section 3(a)(47) of the Securities Ex26 change Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C.
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1 78c(a)(47))) for the purchase or sale at a

2 future date of securities (as defined in sec3 tion 3(a)(10) of the Securities Exchange

4 Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a)(10)));

5 ‘‘(ii) a transaction on or subject to the

6 rules of a contract market designated pur7 suant to section 5 of the Commodity Ex8 change Act (7 U.S.C. 7);

9 ‘‘(iii) a contract of indemnity or guar10 antee; or

11 ‘‘(iv) a contract for life, health, or ac12 cident insurance.

13 ‘‘(2) CLOSED-LOOP SUBSCRIBER-BASED SERV14 ICE.—The term ‘closed-loop subscriber-based service’

15 means any information service or system that uses—

16 ‘‘(A) a device or combination of devices—

17 ‘‘(i) expressly authorized and operated

18 in accordance with the laws of a State, ex19 clusively for placing, receiving, or otherwise

20 making a bet or wager described in sub21 section (f)(1)(B); and

22 ‘‘(ii) by which a person located within

23 any State must subscribe and be registered

24 with the provider of the wagering service

25 by name, address, and appropriate billing
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1 information to be authorized to place, re2 ceive, or otherwise make a bet or wager,

3 and must be physically located within that

4 State in order to be authorized to do so;

5 ‘‘(B) an effective customer verification and

6 age verification system, expressly authorized

7 and operated in accordance with the laws of the

8 State in which it is located, to ensure that all

9 applicable Federal and State legal and regu10 latory requirements for lawful gambling are

11 met; and

12 ‘‘(C) appropriate data security standards

13 to prevent unauthorized access by any person

14 who has not subscribed or who is a minor.

15 ‘‘(3) FOREIGN JURISDICTION.—The term ‘for16 eign jurisdiction’ means a jurisdiction of a foreign

17 country or political subdivision thereof.

18 ‘‘(4) GAMBLING BUSINESS.—The term ‘gam19 bling business’ means—

20 ‘‘(A) a business that is conducted at a

21 gambling establishment, or that—

22 ‘‘(i) involves—

23 ‘‘(I) the placing, receiving, or

24 otherwise making of bets or wagers;

25 or
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1 ‘‘(II) the offering to engage in

2 the placing, receiving, or otherwise

3 making of bets or wagers;

4 ‘‘(ii) involves 1 or more persons who

5 conduct, finance, manage, supervise, direct,

6 or own all or part of such business; and

7 ‘‘(iii) has been or remains in substan8 tially continuous operation for a period in

9 excess of 10 days or has a gross revenue

10 of $2,000 or more from such business dur11 ing any 24-hour period; and

12 ‘‘(B) any soliciting agent of a business de13 scribed in subparagraph (A).

14 ‘‘(5) INFORMATION ASSISTING IN THE PLACING

15 OF A BET OR WAGER.—The term ‘information as16 sisting in the placing of a bet or wager’—

17 ‘‘(A) means information that is intended

18 by the sender or recipient to be used by a per19 son engaged in the business of betting or wa20 gering to place, receive, or otherwise make a bet

21 or wager; and

22 ‘‘(B) does not include—

23 ‘‘(i) information concerning pari24 mutuel pools that is exchanged exclusively

25 between or among 1 or more racetracks or
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1 other parimutuel wagering facilities li2 censed by the State or approved by the for3 eign jurisdiction in which the facility is lo4 cated, and 1 or more parimutuel wagering

5 facilities licensed by the State or approved

6 by the foreign jurisdiction in which the fa7 cility is located, if that information is used

8 only to conduct common pool parimutuel

9 pooling under applicable law;

10 ‘‘(ii) information exchanged exclu11 sively between or among 1 or more race12 tracks or other parimutuel wagering facili13 ties licensed by the State or approved by

14 the foreign jurisdiction in which the facility

15 is located, and a support service located in

16 another State or foreign jurisdiction, if the

17 information is used only for processing

18 bets or wagers made with that facility

19 under applicable law;

20 ‘‘(iii) information exchanged exclu21 sively between or among 1 or more wager22 ing facilities that are located within a sin23 gle State and are licensed and regulated by

24 that State, and any support service, wher25 ever located, if the information is used only
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1 for the pooling or processing of bets or wa2 gers made by or with the facility or facili3 ties under applicable State law;

4 ‘‘(iv) any news reporting or analysis

5 of wagering activity, including odds, racing

6 or event results, race and event schedules,

7 or categories of wagering; or

8 ‘‘(v) any posting or reporting of any

9 educational information on how to make a

10 bet or wager or the nature of betting or

11 wagering.

12 ‘‘(6) INTERACTIVE COMPUTER SERVICE.—The

13 term ‘interactive computer service’ means any infor14 mation service, system, or access software provider

15 that operates in, or uses a channel or instrumen16 tality of, interstate or foreign commerce to provide

17 or enable access by multiple users to a computer

18 server, including specifically a service or system that

19 provides access to the Internet.

20 ‘‘(7) INTERACTIVE COMPUTER SERVICE PRO21 VIDER.—The term ‘interactive computer service pro22 vider’ means any person that provides an interactive

23 computer service, to the extent that such person of24 fers or provides such service.
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1 ‘‘(8) INTERNET.—The term ‘Internet’ means

2 the international computer network of both Federal

3 and non-Federal interoperable packet switched data

4 networks.

5 ‘‘(9) PERSON.—The term ‘person’ means any

6 individual, association, partnership, joint venture,

7 corporation (or any affiliate of a corporation), State

8 or political subdivision thereof, department, agency,

9 or instrumentality of a State or political subdivision

10 thereof, or any other government, organization, or

11 entity (including any governmental entity (as defined

12 in section 3701(2) of title 28)).

13 ‘‘(10) PRIVATE NETWORK.—The term ‘private

14 network’ means a communications channel or chan15 nels, including voice or computer data transmission

16 facilities, that use either—

17 ‘‘(A) private dedicated lines; or

18 ‘‘(B) the public communications infrastruc19 ture, if the infrastructure is secured by means

20 of the appropriate private communications tech21 nology to prevent unauthorized access.

22 ‘‘(11) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means a State

23 of the United States, the District of Columbia, the

24 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or a commonwealth,

25 territory, or possession of the United States.
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1 ‘‘(12) SUBSCRIBER.—The term ‘subscriber’—

2 ‘‘(A) means any person with a business re3 lationship with the interactive computer service

4 provider through which such person receives ac5 cess to the system, service, or network of that

6 provider, even if no formal subscription agree7 ment exists; and

8 ‘‘(B) includes registrants, students who are

9 granted access to a university system or net10 work, and employees or contractors who are

11 granted access to the system or network of

12 their employer.

13 ‘‘(b) INTERNET GAMBLING.—

14 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—Subject to subsection (f),

15 it shall be unlawful for a person engaged in a gam16 bling business knowingly to use the Internet or any

17 other interactive computer service—

18 ‘‘(A) to place, receive, or otherwise make a

19 bet or wager; or

20 ‘‘(B) to send, receive, or invite information

21 assisting in the placing of a bet or wager.

22 ‘‘(2) PENALTIES.—A person engaged in a gam23 bling business who violates this section shall be—

24 ‘‘(A) fined in an amount equal to not more

25 than the greater of—
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1 ‘‘(i) the total amount that such person

2 bet or wagered, or placed, received, or ac3 cepted in bets or wagers, as a result of en4 gaging in that business in violation of this

5 section; or

6 ‘‘(ii) $20,000;

7 ‘‘(B) imprisoned not more than 4 years; or

8 ‘‘(C) both.

9 ‘‘(3) PERMANENT INJUNCTIONS.—Upon convic10 tion of a person under this section, the court may

11 enter a permanent injunction enjoining such person

12 from placing, receiving, or otherwise making bets or

13 wagers or sending, receiving, or inviting information

14 assisting in the placing of bets or wagers.

15 ‘‘(c) CIVIL REMEDIES.—

16 ‘‘(1) JURISDICTION.—The district courts of the

17 United States shall have original and exclusive juris18 diction to prevent and restrain violations of this sec19 tion by issuing appropriate orders in accordance

20 with this section, regardless of whether a prosecu21 tion has been initiated under this section.

22 ‘‘(2) PROCEEDINGS.—

23 ‘‘(A) INSTITUTION BY FEDERAL GOVERN24 MENT.—
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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The United States

2 may institute proceedings under this sub3 section to prevent or restrain a violation of

4 this section.

5 ‘‘(ii) RELIEF.—Upon application of

6 the United States under this subpara7 graph, the district court may enter a tem8 porary restraining order or an injunction

9 against any person to prevent or restrain a

10 violation of this section if the court deter11 mines, after notice and an opportunity for

12 a hearing, that there is a substantial prob13 ability that such violation has occurred or

14 will occur.

15 ‘‘(B) INSTITUTION BY STATE ATTORNEY

16 GENERAL.—

17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The attorney gen18 eral of a State (or other appropriate State

19 official) in which a violation of this section

20 allegedly has occurred or will occur, after

21 providing written notice to the United

22 States, may institute proceedings under

23 this subsection to prevent or restrain the

24 violation.
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1 ‘‘(ii) RELIEF.—Upon application of

2 the attorney general (or other appropriate

3 State official) of an affected State under

4 this subparagraph, the district court may

5 enter a temporary restraining order or an

6 injunction against any person to prevent or

7 restrain a violation of this section if the

8 court determines, after notice and an op9 portunity for a hearing, that there is a

10 substantial probability that such violation

11 has occurred or will occur.

12 ‘‘(C) PROCEEDINGS BY A SPORTS ORGANI13 ZATION.—A professional sports organization or

14 an amateur sports organization (as those terms

15 are defined in section 3701 of title 28) whose

16 games, or the performances of whose athletes in

17 such games, are alleged to be the basis of a vio18 lation of this section, may, after providing writ19 ten notice to the United States, institute civil

20 proceedings in an appropriate district court of

21 the United States to prevent or restrain such

22 violation. Upon application of the professional

23 or amateur sports organization, the district

24 court may enter any relief authorized by this

25 subsection in proceedings instituted thereunder
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1 by the United States or a State Attorney Gen2 eral (or other appropriate State official). This

3 subparagraph does not authorize proceedings

4 against an interactive computer service provider

5 described in subsection (d)(1)(B).

6 ‘‘(D) INDIAN LANDS.—Notwithstanding

7 subparagraph (A), (B), or (C), for a violation

8 that is alleged to have occurred, or may occur,

9 on Indian lands (as defined in section 4 of the

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

11 2703))—

12 ‘‘(i) the United States shall have the

13 enforcement authority provided under sub14 paragraph (A); and

15 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an alleged violation

16 that involves class III gaming (as defined

17 in section 4 of the Indian Gaming Regu18 latory Act (25 U.S.C. 2703)), the enforce19 ment authorities specified in an applicable

20 Tribal-State compact negotiated under sec21 tion 11 of the Indian Gaming Regulatory

22 Act (25 U.S.C. 2710) shall be carried out

23 in accordance with that compact.

24 ‘‘(E) EXPIRATION.—Any temporary re25 straining order or preliminary injunction en-
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1 tered pursuant to subparagraph (A) or (B)

2 shall expire if, and as soon as, the United

3 States, or the attorney general (or other appro4 priate State official) of the State, as applicable,

5 notifies the court that issued the order or in6 junction that the United States or the State, as

7 applicable, will not seek a permanent injunc8 tion.

9 ‘‘(3) EXPEDITED PROCEEDINGS.—

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any

11 proceeding under paragraph (2), a district court

12 may, in exigent circumstances, enter a tem13 porary restraining order against a person al14 leged to be in violation of this section upon ap15 plication of the United States under paragraph

16 (2)(A), or the attorney general (or other appro17 priate State official) of an affected State under

18 paragraph (2)(B), without notice and the op19 portunity for a hearing as provided in rule

20 65(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

21 (except as provided in subsection (d)(3)), if the

22 United States or the State, as applicable, dem23 onstrates that there is probable cause to believe

24 that the use of the Internet or other interactive

25 computer service at issue violates this section.
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1 ‘‘(B) HEARINGS.—A hearing requested

2 concerning an order entered under this para3 graph shall be held at the earliest practicable

4 time.

5 ‘‘(d) INTERACTIVE COMPUTER SERVICE PRO6 VIDERS.—

7 ‘‘(1) IMMUNITY FROM LIABILITY FOR USE BY

8 ANOTHER.—

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An interactive com10 puter service provider described in subpara11 graph (B) shall not be liable, under this section

12 or any other provision of Federal or State law

13 prohibiting or regulating gambling or gambling14 related activities, for the use of its facilities or

15 services by another person to engage in Internet

16 gambling activity that violates such law—

17 ‘‘(i) arising out of any transmitting,

18 routing, or providing of connections for

19 gambling-related material or activity (in20 cluding intermediate and temporary stor21 age in the course of such transmitting,

22 routing, or providing connections) by the

23 provider, if—
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1 ‘‘(I) the material or activity was

2 initiated by or at the direction of a

3 person other than the provider;

4 ‘‘(II) the transmitting, routing,

5 or providing of connections is carried

6 out through an automatic process

7 without selection of the material or

8 activity by the provider;

9 ‘‘(III) the provider does not se10 lect the recipients of the material or

11 activity, except as an automatic re12 sponse to the request of another per13 son; and

14 ‘‘(IV) the material or activity is

15 transmitted through the system or

16 network of the provider without modi17 fication of its content; or

18 ‘‘(ii) arising out of any gambling-re19 lated material or activity at an online site

20 residing on a computer server owned, con21 trolled, or operated by or for the provider,

22 or arising out of referring or linking users

23 to an online location containing such mate24 rial or activity, if the material or activity

25 was initiated by or at the direction of a
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1 person other than the provider, unless the

2 provider fails to take expeditiously, with

3 respect to the particular material or activ4 ity at issue, the actions described in para5 graph (2)(A) following the receipt by the

6 provider of a notice described in paragraph

7 (2)(B).

8 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITY.—An interactive com9 puter service provider is described in this sub10 paragraph only if the provider—

11 ‘‘(i) maintains and implements a writ12 ten or electronic policy that requires the

13 provider to terminate the account of a sub14 scriber of its system or network expedi15 tiously following the receipt by the provider

16 of a notice described in paragraph (2)(B)

17 alleging that such subscriber has violated

18 or is violating this section; and

19 ‘‘(ii) with respect to the particular

20 material or activity at issue, has not know21 ingly permitted its computer server to be

22 used to engage in activity that the provider

23 knows is prohibited by this section, with

24 the specific intent that such server be used

25 for such purpose.
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1 ‘‘(2) NOTICE TO INTERACTIVE COMPUTER

2 SERVICE PROVIDERS.—

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If an interactive com4 puter service provider receives from a Federal

5 or State law enforcement agency, acting within

6 its authority and jurisdiction, a written or elec7 tronic notice described in subparagraph (B),

8 that a particular online site residing on a com9 puter server owned, controlled, or operated by

10 or for the provider is being used by another

11 person to violate this section, the provider shall

12 expeditiously—

13 ‘‘(i) remove or disable access to the

14 material or activity residing at that online

15 site that allegedly violates this section; or

16 ‘‘(ii) in any case in which the provider

17 does not control the site at which the sub18 ject material or activity resides, the pro19 vider, through any agent of the provider

20 designated in accordance with section

21 512(c)(2) of title 17, or other responsible

22 identified employee or contractor—

23 ‘‘(I) notify the Federal or State

24 law enforcement agency that the pro-
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1 vider is not the proper recipient of

2 such notice; and

3 ‘‘(II) upon receipt of a subpoena,

4 cooperate with the Federal or State

5 law enforcement agency in identifying

6 the person or persons who control the

7 site.

8 ‘‘(B) NOTICE.—A notice is described in

9 this subparagraph only if it—

10 ‘‘(i) identifies the material or activity

11 that allegedly violates this section, and al12 leges that such material or activity violates

13 this section;

14 ‘‘(ii) provides information reasonably

15 sufficient to permit the provider to locate

16 (and, as appropriate, in a notice issued

17 pursuant to paragraph (3)(A) to block ac18 cess to) the material or activity;

19 ‘‘(iii) is supplied to any agent of a

20 provider designated in accordance with sec21 tion 512(c)(2) of title 17, if information

22 regarding such designation is readily avail23 able to the public;

24 ‘‘(iv) provides information that is rea25 sonably sufficient to permit the provider to
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1 contact the law enforcement agency that

2 issued the notice, including the name of

3 the law enforcement agency, and the name

4 and telephone number of an individual to

5 contact at the law enforcement agency

6 (and, if available, the electronic mail ad7 dress of that individual); and

8 ‘‘(v) declares under penalties of per9 jury that the person submitting the notice

10 is an official of the law enforcement agency

11 described in clause (iv).

12 ‘‘(3) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The United States, or

14 a State law enforcement agency acting within

15 its authority and jurisdiction, may, not less

16 than 24 hours following the issuance to an

17 interactive computer service provider of a notice

18 described in paragraph (2)(B), in a civil action,

19 obtain a temporary restraining order, or an in20 junction to prevent the use of the interactive

21 computer service by another person in violation

22 of this section.

23 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS.—Notwithstanding any

24 other provision of this section, in the case of

25 any application for a temporary restraining
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1 order or an injunction against an interactive

2 computer service provider described in para3 graph (1)(B) to prevent a violation of this

4 section—

5 ‘‘(i) arising out of activity described in

6 paragraph (1)(A)(i), the injunctive relief is

7 limited to—

8 ‘‘(I) an order restraining the pro9 vider from providing access to an

10 identified subscriber of the system or

11 network of the interactive computer

12 service provider, if the court deter13 mines that there is probable cause to

14 believe that such subscriber is using

15 that access to violate this section (or

16 to engage with another person in a

17 communication that violates this sec18 tion), by terminating the specified ac19 count of that subscriber; and

20 ‘‘(II) an order restraining the

21 provider from providing access, by

22 taking reasonable steps specified in

23 the order to block access, to a specific,

24 identified, foreign online location;
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1 ‘‘(ii) arising out of activity described

2 in paragraph (1)(A)(ii), the injunctive re3 lief is limited to—

4 ‘‘(I) the orders described in

5 clause (i)(I);

6 ‘‘(II) an order restraining the

7 provider from providing access to the

8 material or activity that violates this

9 section at a particular online site re10 siding on a computer server operated

11 or controlled by the provider; and

12 ‘‘(III) such other injunctive rem13 edies as the court considers necessary

14 to prevent or restrain access to speci15 fied material or activity that is pro16 hibited by this section at a particular

17 online location residing on a computer

18 server operated or controlled by the

19 provider, that are the least burden20 some to the provider among the forms

21 of relief that are comparably effective

22 for that purpose.

23 ‘‘(C) CONSIDERATIONS.—The court, in de24 termining appropriate injunctive relief under

25 this paragraph, shall consider—
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1 ‘‘(i) whether such an injunction, either

2 alone or in combination with other such in3 junctions issued, and currently operative,

4 against the same provider would signifi5 cantly (and, in the case of relief under sub6 paragraph (B)(ii), taking into account,

7 among other factors, the conduct of the

8 provider, unreasonably) burden either the

9 provider or the operation of the system or

10 network of the provider;

11 ‘‘(ii) whether implementation of such

12 an injunction would be technically feasible

13 and effective, and would not materially

14 interfere with access to lawful material at

15 other online locations;

16 ‘‘(iii) whether other less burdensome

17 and comparably effective means of pre18 venting or restraining access to the illegal

19 material or activity are available; and

20 ‘‘(iv) the magnitude of the harm likely

21 to be suffered by the community if the in22 junction is not granted.

23 ‘‘(D) NOTICE AND EX PARTE ORDERS.—

24 Injunctive relief under this paragraph shall not

25 be available without notice to the service pro-
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1 vider and an opportunity for such provider to

2 appear before the court, except for orders en3 suring the preservation of evidence or other or4 ders having no material adverse effect on the

5 operation of the communications network of the

6 service provider.

7 ‘‘(4) ADVERTISING OR PROMOTION OF NON8 INTERNET GAMBLING.—

9 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph:

10 ‘‘(i) CONDUCTED.—With respect to a

11 gambling activity, that activity is ‘con12 ducted’ in a State if the State is the State

13 in which the gambling establishment (as

14 defined in section 1081) that offers the

15 gambling activity being advertised or pro16 moted is physically located.

17 ‘‘(ii) NON-INTERNET GAMBLING AC18 TIVITY.—The term ‘non-Internet gambling

19 activity’ means—

20 ‘‘(I) a gambling activity in which

21 the placing of the bet or wager is not

22 conducted by the Internet; or

23 ‘‘(II) a gambling activity to

24 which the prohibitions of this section

25 do not apply.
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1 ‘‘(B) IMMUNITY FROM LIABILITY FOR USE

2 BY ANOTHER.—

3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An interactive

4 computer service provider described in

5 clause (ii) shall not be liable, under any

6 provision of Federal or State law prohib7 iting or regulating gambling or gambling8 related activities, or under any State law

9 prohibiting or regulating advertising and

10 promotional activities, for—

11 ‘‘(I) content, provided by another

12 person, that advertises or promotes

13 non-Internet gambling activity that

14 violates such law (unless the provider

15 is engaged in the business of such

16 gambling), arising out of any of the

17 activities described in paragraph

18 (1)(A) (i) or (ii); or

19 ‘‘(II) content, provided by an20 other person, that advertises or pro21 motes non-Internet gambling activity

22 that is lawful under Federal law and

23 the law of the State in which such

24 gambling activity is conducted.
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1 ‘‘(ii) ELIGIBILITY.—An interactive

2 computer service is described in this clause

3 only if the provider—

4 ‘‘(I) maintains and implements a

5 written or electronic policy that re6 quires the provider to terminate the

7 account of a subscriber of its system

8 or network expeditiously following the

9 receipt by the provider of a notice de10 scribed in paragraph (2)(B) alleging

11 that such subscriber maintains a

12 website on a computer server con13 trolled or operated by the provider for

14 the purpose of engaging in advertising

15 or promotion of non-Internet gam16 bling activity prohibited by a Federal

17 law or a law of the State in which

18 such activity is conducted;

19 ‘‘(II) with respect to the par20 ticular material or activity at issue,

21 has not knowingly permitted its com22 puter server to be used to engage in

23 the advertising or promotion of non24 Internet gambling activity that the

25 provider knows is prohibited by a
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1 Federal law or a law of the State in

2 which the activity is conducted, with

3 the specific intent that such server be

4 used for such purpose; and

5 ‘‘(III) at reasonable cost, offers

6 residential customers of the provider’s

7 Internet access service, if the provider

8 provides Internet access service to

9 such customers, computer software, or

10 another filtering or blocking system

11 that includes the capability of filtering

12 or blocking access by minors to online

13 Internet gambling sites that violate

14 this section.

15 ‘‘(C) NOTICE TO INTERACTIVE COMPUTER

16 SERVICE PROVIDERS.—

17 ‘‘(i) NOTICE FROM FEDERAL LAW EN18 FORCEMENT AGENCY.—If an interactive

19 computer service provider receives from a

20 Federal law enforcement agency, acting

21 within its authority and jurisdiction, a

22 written or electronic notice described in

23 paragraph (2)(B), that a particular online

24 site residing on a computer server owned,

25 controlled, or operated by or for the pro-
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1 vider is being used by another person to

2 advertise or promote non-Internet gam3 bling activity that violates a Federal law

4 prohibiting or regulating gambling or gam5 bling-related activities, the provider shall

6 expeditiously take the actions described in

7 paragraph (2)(A) (i) or (ii) with respect to

8 the advertising or promotion identified in

9 the notice.

10 ‘‘(ii) NOTICE FROM STATE LAW EN11 FORCEMENT AGENCY.—If an interactive

12 computer service provider receives from a

13 State law enforcement agency, acting with14 in its authority and jurisdiction, a written

15 or electronic notice described in paragraph

16 (2)(B), that a particular online site resid17 ing on a computer server owned, con18 trolled, or operated by or for the provider

19 is being used by another person to adver20 tise or promote non-Internet gambling ac21 tivity that is conducted in that State and

22 that violates a law of that State prohib23 iting or regulating gambling or gambling24 related activities, the provider shall expedi25 tiously take the actions described in para-
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1 graph (2)(A) (i) or (ii) with respect to the

2 advertising or promotion identified in the

3 notice.

4 ‘‘(D) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—The United

5 States, or a State law enforcement agency, act6 ing within its authority and jurisdiction, may,

7 not less than 24 hours following the issuance to

8 an interactive computer service provider of a

9 notice described in paragraph (2)(B), in a civil

10 action, obtain a temporary restraining order, or

11 an injunction, to prevent the use of the inter12 active computer service by another person to

13 advertise or promote non-Internet gambling ac14 tivity that violates a Federal law, or a law of

15 the State in which such activity is conducted

16 that prohibits or regulates gambling or gam17 bling-related activities, as applicable. The proce18 dures described in paragraph (3)(D) shall apply

19 to actions brought under this subparagraph,

20 and the relief in such actions shall be limited

21 to—

22 ‘‘(i) an order requiring the provider to

23 remove or disable access to the advertising

24 or promotion of non-Internet gambling ac25 tivity that violates Federal law, or the law
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1 of the State in which such activity is con2 ducted, as applicable, at a particular online

3 site residing on a computer server con4 trolled or operated by the provider;

5 ‘‘(ii) an order restraining the provider

6 from providing access to an identified sub7 scriber of the system or network of the

8 provider, if the court determines that such

9 subscriber maintains a website on a com10 puter server controlled or operated by the

11 provider that the subscriber is knowingly

12 using or knowingly permitting to be used

13 to advertise or promote non-Internet gam14 bling activity that violates Federal law or

15 the law of the State in which such activity

16 is conducted; and

17 ‘‘(iii) an order restraining the provider

18 of the content of the advertising or pro19 motion of such illegal gambling activity

20 from disseminating such advertising or

21 promotion on the computer server con22 trolled or operated by the provider of such

23 interactive computer service.
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1 ‘‘(E) APPLICABILITY.—The provisions of

2 subparagraphs (C) and (D) do not apply to the

3 content described in subparagraph (B)(i)(II).

4 ‘‘(5) EFFECT ON OTHER LAW.—

5 ‘‘(A) IMMUNITY FROM LIABILITY FOR COM6 PLIANCE.—An interactive computer service pro7 vider shall not be liable for any damages, pen8 alty, or forfeiture, civil or criminal, under Fed9 eral or State law for taking in good faith any

10 action described in paragraph (2)(A) or (4)

11 (B)(ii)(I) or (C) to comply with a notice de12 scribed in paragraph (2)(B), or complying with

13 any court order issued under paragraph (3) or

14 (4)(C).

15 ‘‘(B) DISCLAIMER OF OBLIGATIONS.—

16 Nothing in this section may be construed to im17 pose or authorize an obligation on an inter18 active computer service provider described in

19 paragraph (1)(B)—

20 ‘‘(i) to monitor material or use of its

21 service; or

22 ‘‘(ii) except as required by a notice or

23 an order of a court under this subsection,

24 to gain access to, to remove, or to disable

25 access to material.
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1 ‘‘(C) RIGHTS OF SUBSCRIBERS.—Nothing

2 in this section may be construed to prejudice

3 the right of a subscriber to secure an appro4 priate determination, as otherwise provided by

5 law, in a Federal court or in a State or local

6 tribunal or agency, that the account of such

7 subscriber should not be terminated pursuant

8 to this subsection, or should be restored.

9 ‘‘(e) AVAILABILITY OF RELIEF.—The availability of

10 relief under subsections (c) and (d) shall not depend on,

11 or be affected by, the initiation or resolution of any action

12 under subsection (b), or under any other provision of Fed13 eral or State law.

14 ‘‘(f) APPLICABILITY.—

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

16 the prohibition in this section does not apply to—

17 ‘‘(A) any otherwise lawful bet or wager

18 that is placed, received, or otherwise made

19 wholly intrastate for a State lottery, or for a

20 multi-State lottery operated jointly between 2

21 or more States in conjunction with State lot22 teries if—

23 ‘‘(i) each such lottery is expressly au24 thorized, and licensed or regulated, under

25 applicable State law;
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1 ‘‘(ii) the bet or wager is placed on an

2 interactive computer service that uses a

3 private network;

4 ‘‘(iii) each person placing or otherwise

5 making that bet or wager is physically lo6 cated when such bet or wager is placed at

7 a facility that is open to the general public;

8 and

9 ‘‘(iv) each such lottery complies with

10 sections 1301 through 1304, and other ap11 plicable provisions of Federal law;

12 ‘‘(B) any otherwise lawful bet or wager

13 that is placed, received, or otherwise made on

14 an interstate or intrastate basis on a live horse

15 or a live dog race, or the sending, receiving, or

16 inviting of information assisting in the placing

17 of such a bet or wager, if such bet or wager,

18 or the transmission of such information, as ap19 plicable, is—

20 ‘‘(i) expressly authorized, and licensed

21 or regulated by the State in which such bet

22 or wager is received, under applicable Fed23 eral and such State’s laws;

24 ‘‘(ii) placed on a closed-loop sub25 scriber-based service;
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1 ‘‘(iii) initiated from a State in which

2 betting or wagering on that same type of

3 live horse or live dog racing is lawful and

4 received in a State in which such betting

5 or wagering is lawful;

6 ‘‘(iv) subject to the regulatory over7 sight of the State in which the bet or

8 wager is received and subject by such

9 State to minimum control standards for

10 the accounting, regulatory inspection, and

11 auditing of all such bets or wagers trans12 mitted from 1 State to another; and

13 ‘‘(v) in the case of—

14 ‘‘(I) live horse racing, made in

15 accordance with the Interstate Horse

16 Racing Act of 1978 (15 U.S.C. 3001

17 et seq.) and the requirements, if any,

18 established by an appropriate legisla19 tive or regulatory body of the State in

20 which the bet or wager originates; or

21 ‘‘(II) live dog racing, subject to

22 consent agreements that are com23 parable to those required by the Inter24 state Horse Racing Act of 1978, ap25 proved by the appropriate State regu-
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1 latory agencies, in the State receiving

2 the signal, and in the State in which

3 the bet or wager originates; or

4 ‘‘(C) any otherwise lawful bet or wager

5 that is placed, received, or otherwise made for

6 a fantasy sports league game or contest.

7 ‘‘(2) BETS OR WAGERS MADE BY AGENTS OR

8 PROXIES.—

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) does

10 not apply in any case in which a bet or wager

11 is placed, received, or otherwise made by the

12 use of an agent or proxy using the Internet or

13 an interactive computer service.

14 ‘‘(B) QUALIFICATION.—Nothing in this

15 paragraph may be construed to prohibit the

16 owner operator of a parimutuel wagering facil17 ity that is licensed by a State from employing

18 an agent in the operation of the account wager19 ing system owned or operated by the parimutuel

20 facility.

21 ‘‘(3) ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION.—The pro22 hibition of subsection (b)(1)(B) does not apply to

23 advertising or promotion of any activity that is not

24 prohibited by subsection (b)(1)(A).

25 ‘‘(4) INDIAN GAMING.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph

2 (2), the prohibition in this section does not

3 apply to any otherwise lawful bet or wager that

4 is placed, received, or otherwise made on any

5 game that constitutes class II gaming or class

6 III gaming (as those terms are defined in sec7 tion 4 of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, 25

8 U.S.C. 2703), or the sending, receiving, or in9 viting of information assisting in the placing of

10 any such bet or wager, as applicable, if—

11 ‘‘(i) the game is permitted under and

12 conducted in accordance with the Indian

13 Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2701

14 et seq.);

15 ‘‘(ii) each person placing, receiving, or

16 otherwise making such bet or wager, or

17 transmitting such information, is phys18 ically located on Indian lands (as that term

19 is defined in section 4 of the Indian Gam20 ing Regulatory Act, 25 U.S.C. 2703) when

21 such person places, receives, or otherwise

22 makes the bet or wager, or transmits such

23 information;
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1 ‘‘(iii) the game is conducted on a

2 closed-loop subscriber-based system or a

3 private network; and

4 ‘‘(iv) in the case of a game that con5 stitutes class III gaming—

6 ‘‘(I) the game is authorized

7 under, and is conducted in accordance

8 with, the respective Tribal-State com9 pacts (entered into and approved pur10 suant to section 11(d) of the Indian

11 Gaming Regulatory Act, 25 U.S.C.

12 2710) governing gaming activity on

13 the Indian lands, in each respective

14 State, on which each person placing,

15 receiving, or otherwise making such

16 bet or wager, or transmitting such in17 formation, is physically located when

18 such person places, receives, or other19 wise makes the bet or wager, or trans20 mits such information; and

21 ‘‘(II) each such Tribal-State com22 pact expressly provides that the game

23 may be conducted using the Internet

24 or other interactive computer service
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1 only on a closed-loop subscriber-based

2 system or a private network.

3 ‘‘(B) ACTIVITIES UNDER EXISTING COM4 PACTS.—The requirement of subparagraph

5 (A)(iv)(II) shall not apply in the case of gaming

6 activity, otherwise subject to this section, that

7 was being conducted on Indian lands on Sep8 tember 1, 1999, with the approval of the State

9 gaming commission or like regulatory authority

10 of the State in which such Indian lands are lo11 cated, but without such required compact ap12 proval, until the date on which the compact

13 governing gaming activity on such Indian lands

14 expires (exclusive of any automatic or discre15 tionary renewal or extension of such compact),

16 so long as such gaming activity is conducted

17 using the Internet or other interactive computer

18 service only on a closed-loop subscriber-based

19 system or a private network. For purposes of

20 this subparagraph, the phrase ‘conducted on In21 dian lands’ shall refer to all Indian lands on

22 which any person placing, receiving, or other23 wise making a bet or wager, or sending, receiv24 ing, or inviting information assisting in the

25 placing of a bet or wager, is physically located
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1 when such person places, receives, or otherwise

2 makes the bet or wager, or sends, receives, or

3 invites such information.

4 ‘‘(g) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—

5 ‘‘(1) NO IMMUNITY FROM PROSECUTION.—Ex6 cept as provided in subsection (d), nothing in this

7 section may be construed to create immunity from

8 criminal prosecution under any provision of Federal

9 or State law.

10 ‘‘(2) OTHER PROHIBITIONS AND REMEDIES.—

11 Nothing in this section may be construed to affect

12 any prohibition or remedy applicable to a person en13 gaged in a gambling business under any other provi14 sion of Federal or State law.’’.

15 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for

16 chapter 50 of title 18, United States Code, is amended

17 by adding at the end the following:

‘‘1085. Internet gambling.’’.

18 SEC. 3. REPORT ON ENFORCEMENT.

19 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment

20 of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress

21 a report, which shall include—

22 (1) an analysis of the problems, if any, associ23 ated with enforcing section 1085 of title 18, United

24 States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act;
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1 (2) recommendations for the best use of the re2 sources of the Department of Justice to enforce that

3 section; and

4 (3) an estimate of the amount of activity and

5 money that continue to be used to gamble on the

6 Internet, despite the prohibition of section 1085 of

7 title 18, United States Code, as added by section 2

8 of this Act, together with—

9 (A) a detailed description of the factors

10 contributing to successful evasion of that prohi11 bition; and

12 (B) recommendations concerning means of

13 closing the channels used to evade that prohibi14 tion.

15 SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY.

16 If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by

17 this Act, or the application of such provision or amend18 ment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconsti19 tutional, the remainder of this Act, the amendments made

20 by this Act, and the application of this Act and the provi-
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1 sions of such amendments to any other person or cir2 cumstance shall not be affected thereby.

Passed the Senate November 19, 1999.

Attest:

Secretary.
106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 692

AN ACT

To prohibit Internet gambling, and for other

purposes.