I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4777 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to expand and modernize the 

prohibition against interstate gambling, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 16, 2006 

Mr. GOODLATTE (for himself, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. WOLF, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. 

PITTS, Mr. PENCE, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. AKIN, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. BAKER, Mr. BARRETT of South Carolina, Mr. 

BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. BASS, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. BONNER, Mr. 

BOOZMAN, Mr. BOUSTANY, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. 

BUYER, Mr. CANTOR, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. COBLE, Mr. 

CONAWAY, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. CULBERSON, Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. DEAL of Georgia, Mr. DEFAZIO, 

Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida, Mrs. DRAKE, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. 

EHLERS, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. EVERETT, Mr. FORBES, Mr. 

FORTENBERRY, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. FORTUN ̃O, Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN, Ms. FOXX, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. GILCHREST, Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. 

GINGREY, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. GOODE, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Ms. HART, Mr. 

HAYES, Mr. HEFLEY, Mr. HERGER, Mr. HOBSON, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. 

HOSTETTLER, Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina, Mr. ISTOOK, Mr. JENKINS, 

Mr. JINDAL, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, Mr. KELLER, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota, Mr. KING

of Iowa, Mr. KINGSTON, Mr. KUHL of New York, Mr. LEWIS of California, Mr. LINDER, Mr. LUCAS, Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California, 

Mr. MCCRERY, Mr. MCKEON, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. MORAN of 

Kansas, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mrs. MUSGRAVE, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. 

NEUGEBAUER, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. NUSSLE, Mr. OSBORNE, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. POE, Mr. PUTNAM, Mr. RAMSTAD, Mr. REGULA, 

Mr. REHBERG, Mr. REYNOLDS, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. ROGERS

of Michigan, Mr. SCHWARZ of Michigan, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. SHUSTER, 

Mr. SIMMONS, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. SODREL, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. TERRY, Mr. THOMAS, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. WALDEN of Oregon, 

Mr. WALSH, Mr. WELDON of Florida, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. WICKER, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mrs. WILSON of New Mexico, Mr. 

BRADY of Texas, Mr. DELAY, and Mr. LAHOOD) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
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A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to expand and modernize the prohibition against interstate 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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 Section 1081 of title 18, United States Code, is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) by designating the five undesignated para10 graphs that begin with ‘‘The term’’ as paragraphs 

11 (1) through (5), respectively; 

12 (2) in paragraph (5), as so designated— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘wire communication’’ and 

14 inserting ‘‘communication’’; 

15 (B) by inserting ‘‘satellite, microwave,’’ 

16 after ‘‘cable,’’; and 

17 (C) by inserting ‘‘(whether fixed or mo18 bile)’’ after ‘‘connection’’; and 

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

20 ‘‘(6) The term ‘bets or wagers’— 
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1 ‘‘(A) means the staking or risking by any 

2 person of something of value upon the outcome 

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

4 game predominantly subject to chance, upon an 

5 agreement or understanding that the person or 

6 another person will receive something of greater 

7 value than the amount staked or risked in the 

8 event of a certain outcome; 

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

10 opportunity to win a lottery or other prize 

11 (which opportunity to win is predominantly sub12 ject to chance); and 

13 ‘‘(C) does not include— 

14 ‘‘(i) a bona fide business transaction 

15 governed by the securities laws (as that 

16 term is defined in section 3(a)(47) of the 

17 Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 

18 U.S.C. 78c(a)(47))) for the purchase or 

19 sale at a future date of securities (as that 

20 term is defined in section 3(a)(10) of the 

21 Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 

22 U.S.C. 78c(a)(10))); 

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

24 rules of a contract market designated pur25 suant to section 5 of the Commodity Ex-
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1 change Act (7 U.S.C. 7) or to any trans2 action subject to an exemption pursuant to 

3 section 4(c) of such Act; 

4 ‘‘(iii) any over-the-counter derivative 

5 instrument; 

6 ‘‘(iv) a contract of indemnity or guar7 antee; 

8 ‘‘(v) a contract for life, health, or ac9 cident insurance; 

10 ‘‘(vi) participation in any game or 

11 contest in which participants do not stake 

12 or risk anything of value other than— 

13 ‘‘(I) personal efforts of the par14 ticipants in playing the game or con15 test or obtaining access to the Inter16 net; or 

17 ‘‘(II) point or credits that the 

18 sponsor of the game or contest pro19 vides to participants free of charge 

20 and that can be used or redeemed 

21 only for participation in games or con22 tests offered by the sponsor; or 

23 ‘‘(vii) participation in any simulation 

24 sports game or educational game or con25 test in which (if the game or contest in-
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1 volves a team or teams) all teams are fic2 tional and no team is a member of an 

3 amateur or professional sports organiza4 tion (as those terms are defined in section 

5 3701 of title 28) and that meets the fol6 lowing conditions: 

7 ‘‘(I) All prizes and awards of8 fered to winning participants are es9 tablished and made known to the par10 ticipants in advance of the game or 

11 contest and their value is not deter12 mined by the number of participants 

13 or the amount of any fees paid by 

14 those participants. 

15 ‘‘(II) All winning outcomes re16 flect the relative knowledge and skill 

17 of the participants and are determined 

18 predominantly by accumulated statis19 tical results of the performance of in20 dividuals (athletes in the case of 

21 sports events) in multiple real-world 

22 sporting or other events. 

23 ‘‘(III) No winning outcome is 

24 based— 
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1 ‘‘(aa) on the score, point2 spread or any performance or 

3 performances of any single real4 world team or any combination of 

5 such teams; or 

6 ‘‘(bb) solely on any single 

7 performance of an individual ath8 lete in any single real-world 

9 sporting or other event. 

10 ‘‘(7) The term ‘foreign jurisdiction’ means a ju11 risdiction of a foreign country or political subdivision 

12 thereof. 

13 ‘‘(8) The term ‘gambling business’ means a 

14 business of betting or wagering; 

15 ‘‘(9) The term ‘information assisting in the 

16 placing of bets or wagers’ means information know17 ingly transmitted by an individual in a gambling 

18 business for use in placing, receiving, making, or 

19 otherwise enabling or facilitating a bet or wager and 

20 does not include— 

21 ‘‘(A) any posting or reporting of any edu22 cational information on how to make a legal bet 

23 or wager or the nature of betting or wagering, 

24 as long as such posting or reporting does not 

25 solicit or provide information for the purpose of 
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1 facilitating or enabling the placing or receipt of 

2 bets or wagers in a jurisdiction where such bet3 ting is illegal; or 

4 ‘‘(B) advertising relating to betting or wa5 gering in a jurisdiction where such betting or 

6 wagering is legal, as long as such advertising 

7 does not solicit or provide information for the 

8 purpose of facilitating or enabling the placing 

9 or receipt of bets or wagers in a jurisdiction 

10 where such betting is illegal. 

11 ‘‘(10) The term ‘person’ includes a government 

12 (including any governmental entity (as defined in 

13 section 3701(2) of title 28)). 

14 ‘‘(11) The term ‘State’ means a State of the 

15 United States, the District of Columbia, or a com16 monwealth, territory, or possession of the United 

17 States. 

18 ‘‘(12) The terms ‘credit’, ‘creditor’, and ‘credit 

19 card’ have the meanings given such terms in section 

20 103 of the Truth in Lending Act. 

21 ‘‘(13) The term ‘electronic fund transfer’— 

22 ‘‘(A) has the meaning given such term in 

23 section 903 of the Electronic Fund Transfer 

24 Act; or 
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1 ‘‘(B) any fund transfer covered by Article 

2 4A of the Uniform Commercial Code, as in ef3 fect in any State. 

4 ‘‘(14) The term ‘financial institution’ has the 

5 meaning given such term in section 903 of the Elec6 tronic Fund Transfer Act. 

7 ‘‘(15) The term ‘insured depository institu8 tion’— 

9 ‘‘(A) has the same meaning as in section 

10 3(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act; and 

11 ‘‘(B) includes any insured credit union (as 

12 defined in section 101 of the Federal Credit 

13 Union Act). 

14 ‘‘(16) The terms ‘money transmitting business’ 

15 and ‘money transmitting service’ have the meanings 

16 given such terms in section 5330(d) of title 31, 

17 United States Code. 

18 ‘‘(17) The terms ‘own or control’ and to be 

19 ‘owned or controlled’ have the same meanings as in 

20 section 2(a)(2) of the Bank Holding Company Act 

21 of 1956. 

22 ‘‘(18) The term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary 

23 of the Treasury. 
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1 ‘‘(19) The term ‘Tribe’ or ‘tribal’ means an In2 dian tribe, as defined under section 4(5) of the In3 dian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988).’’. 

4 SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF EXISTING PROHIBITION. 

5 Section 1084 of title 18, United States Code, is 

6 amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘§ 1084. Use of a communication facility to transmit 

8 bets or wagers; penalties 

9 ‘‘(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, 

10 whoever, being engaged in a gambling business, knowingly 

11 uses a communication facility— 

12 ‘‘(1) for the transmission in interstate or for13 eign commerce, within the special maritime and ter14 ritorial jurisdiction of the United States, or to or 

15 from any place outside the jurisdiction of any nation 

16 with respect to any transmission to or from the 

17 United States, of bets or wagers, or information as18 sisting in the placing of bets or wagers; or 

19 ‘‘(2) for the transmission of a communication in 

20 interstate or foreign commerce, within the special 

21 maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United 

22 States, or to or from any place outside the jurisdic23 tion of any nation with respect to any transmission 

24 to or from the United States, which entitles the re25 cipient to receive money or credit as a result of bets 
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1 or wagers, or for information assisting in the placing 

2 of bets or wagers; 

3 shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 

4 five years, or both. 

5 ‘‘(b) Except as otherwise provided in this section, 

6 whoever, being engaged in a gambling business, knowingly 

7 accepts, in connection with the transmission of a commu8 nication in interstate or foreign commerce, within the spe9 cial maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United 

10 States, or to or from any place outside the jurisdiction 

11 of any nation with respect to any transmission to or from 

12 the United States of bets or wagers or information assist13 ing in the placing of bets or wagers— 

14 ‘‘(1) credit, or the proceeds of credit, extended 

15 to or on behalf of another (including credit extended 

16 through the use of a credit card); 

17 ‘‘(2) an electronic fund transfer or funds trans18 mitted by or through a money transmitting business, 

19 or the proceeds of an electronic fund transfer or 

20 money transmitting service, from or on behalf of the 

21 other person; 

22 ‘‘(3) any check, draft, or similar instrument 

23 which is drawn by or on behalf of the other person 

24 and is drawn on or payable through any financial in25 stitution; or 
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1 ‘‘(4) the proceeds of any other form of financial 

2 transaction as the Secretary of the Treasury may 

3 prescribe by regulation which involves a financial in4 stitution as a payor or financial intermediary on be5 half of or for the benefit of the other person, 

6 shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 

7 five years, or both. 

8 ‘‘(c) Nothing in this section prohibits— 

9 ‘‘(1) the transmission of information assisting 

10 in the placing of bets or wagers for use in news re11 porting if such transmission does not solicit or pro12 vide information for the purpose of facilitating or 

13 enabling the placing or receipt of bets or wagers in 

14 a jurisdiction where such betting is illegal; 

15 ‘‘(2) the transmission of information assisting 

16 in the placing of bets or wagers from a State or for17 eign country where such betting or wagering is per18 mitted under Federal, State, tribal, or local law into 

19 a State or foreign country in which such betting on 

20 the same event is permitted under Federal, State, 

21 tribal, or local law; or 

22 ‘‘(3) the interstate transmission of information 

23 relating to a State-specific lottery between a State or 

24 foreign country where such betting or wagering is 

25 permitted under Federal, State, tribal, or local law 
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1 and an out-of-State data center for the purposes of 

2 assisting in the operation of such State-specific lot3 tery. 

4 ‘‘(d) Nothing in this section prohibits the use of a 

5 communication facility for the transmission of bets or wa6 gers or information assisting in the placing of bets or wa7 gers, if— 

8 ‘‘(1) at the time the transmission occurs, the 

9 individual or entity placing the bets or wagers or in10 formation assisting in the placing of bets or wagers, 

11 the gambling business, and any facility or support 

12 service processing those bets or wagers is physically 

13 located in the same State, and the State has a se14 cure and effective customer verification and age 

15 verification system to assure compliance with age 

16 and residence requirements, and for class II or class 

17 III gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory 

18 Act, are physically located on Indian lands within 

19 that State; 

20 ‘‘(2) the State or Tribe has explicitly authorized 

21 such bets and wagers; 

22 ‘‘(3) the State has explicitly authorized and li23 censed the operation of the gambling business, any 

24 facility processing the bets and wagers, and the sup25 port service within its borders or the Tribe has ex-
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1 plicitly authorized and licensed the operation of such 

2 gambling business, any facility processing the bets 

3 and wagers, and the support service on Indian lands 

4 within its jurisdiction; 

5 ‘‘(4) with respect to class II or class III gam6 ing, the game is permitted under and conducted in 

7 accordance with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act; 

8 ‘‘(5) with respect to class III gaming under the 

9 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, the game is author10 ized under, and is conducted in accordance with, the 

11 respective Tribal-State compact of the Tribe having 

12 jurisdiction over the Indian lands where the indi13 vidual or entity placing the bets or wagers or infor14 mation assisting in the placing of bets or wagers, the 

15 gambling business, and any facility or support serv16 ice processing those bets or wagers are physically lo17 cated; and 

18 ‘‘(6) with respect to class III gaming under the 

19 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, each such Tribal20 State compact expressly provides that the game may 

21 be conducted using a communication facility to 

22 transmit bets or wagers or information assisting in 

23 the placing of bets or wagers. 

24 ‘‘(e) Nothing in this section creates immunity from 

25 criminal prosecution under any laws of any State or Tribe. 
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1 ‘‘(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to pro2 hibit an activity allowed under Public Law 95–515 (15 

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

4 ‘‘(g) Nothing in this section authorizes activity that 

5 is prohibited under chapter 178 of title 28, United States 

6 Code. 

7 ‘‘(h) When any common carrier, subject to the juris8 diction of the Federal Communications Commission, is no9 tified in writing by a Federal, State, tribal or local law 

10 enforcement agency, acting within its jurisdiction, that 

11 any communication facility furnished by it is being used 

12 or will be used by its subscriber for the purpose of trans13 mitting or receiving gambling information, in interstate or 

14 foreign commerce, within the special maritime and terri15 torial jurisdiction of the United States, or to or from any 

16 place outside the jurisdiction of any nation with respect 

17 to any transmission to or from the United States in viola18 tion of Federal, State, tribal or local law, it shall dis19 continue or refuse, the leasing, furnishing, or maintaining 

20 of such facility, after reasonable notice to the subscriber, 

21 but no damages, penalty or forfeiture, civil or criminal, 

22 shall be found against any common carrier for any act 

23 done in compliance with any notice received from a law 

24 enforcement agency. Nothing in this section shall be 

25 deemed to prejudice the right of any person affected there-
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1 by to secure an appropriate determination, as otherwise 

2 provided by law, in a Federal court or in a State, tribal, 

3 or local tribunal or agency, that such facility should not 

4 be discontinued or removed, or should be restored. 

5 ‘‘(i)(1) A Federal, State, tribal, or local law enforce6 ment agency, acting within its jurisdiction may, in a civil 

7 action, obtain injunctive or declaratory relief to restrain 

8 or prevent any person from paying or assisting in the pay9 ment of bets or wagers, or communicating information as10 sisting in the placing of bets or wagers, in interstate or 

11 foreign commerce, within the special maritime and terri12 torial jurisdiction of the United States, or to or from any 

13 place outside the jurisdiction of any nation with respect 

14 to any transmission to or from the United States in viola15 tion of Federal, State, tribal, or local law. 

16 ‘‘(2) No damages, penalty, or forfeiture, civil or 

17 criminal, shall be found against any person or entity for 

18 any act done in compliance with any notice received from 

19 a law enforcement agency. 

20 ‘‘(3) Relief granted under paragraph (1) against an 

21 interactive computer service (as defined in section 230(f) 

22 of the Communications Act of 1934) shall— 

23 ‘‘(A) be limited to the removal of, or disabling 

24 of access to, an online site violating this section, or 

25 a hypertext link to an online site violating this sec-
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1 tion, that resides on a computer server that such 

2 service controls or operates; except this limitation 

3 shall not apply if the service is violating this section 

4 or is in active concert with a person who is violating 

5 this section and receives actual notice of the relief; 

6 ‘‘(B) be available only after notice to the inter7 active computer service and an opportunity for the 

8 service to appear are provided; 

9 ‘‘(C) not impose any obligation on an inter10 active computer service to monitor its service or to 

11 affirmatively seek facts indicating activity violating 

12 this section; 

13 ‘‘(D) specify the interactive computer service to 

14 which it applies; and 

15 ‘‘(E) specifically identify the location of the on16 line site or hypertext link to be removed or access 

17 to which is to be disabled.’’. 

18 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

19 In addition to any other sums authorized to be appro20 priated for this purpose, there are authorized to be appro21 priated for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2010 

22 $10,000,000 for investigations and prosecutions of viola23 tions of section 1084 of title 18, United States Code. 

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