II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3984 

To amend the Controlled Substances Act to provide a process to lock and 

suspend domain names used to facilitate the online sale of controlled 

substances illegally, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 31, 2022 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Controlled Substances Act to provide a process 

to lock and suspend domain names used to facilitate 

the online sale of controlled substances illegally, 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 ‘‘Stop Illegal Online 

5 Sales of Controlled Substances Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DOMAIN NAMES USED TO FACILITATE THE ONLINE 

2 SALE OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ILLE3 GALLY. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 311 of the Controlled 

5 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 831) is amended by adding at 

6 the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(k) DOMAIN NAMES USED TO FACILITATE THE ON8 LINE SALE OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ILLEGALLY.— 

9 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

10 ‘‘(A) DOMAIN NAME.—The term ‘domain 

11 name’ means a name that— 

12 ‘‘(i) identifies a specific location on 

13 the internet that belongs to a particular 

14 person; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) consists of 2 or more textual seg16 ments separated by dots. 

17 ‘‘(B) DOMAIN NAME USED TO FACILITATE

18 THE ONLINE SALE OF CONTROLLED SUB19 STANCES ILLEGALLY.—The term ‘domain name 

20 used to facilitate the online sale of controlled 

21 substances illegally’ means a domain name that 

22 identifies a location on the internet, a primary 

23 or significant purpose of which is to introduce 

24 or deliver for introduction into interstate com25 merce a controlled substance in violation of this 

26 title. 


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1 ‘‘(C) LOCK.—The term ‘lock’ means, with 

2 respect to a domain name, for the registry oper3 ator or registrar to systematically prevent the 

4 domain name from being updated, transferred, 

5 or deleted during the balance of the registration 

6 of the domain name, which may be achieved 

7 using domain name registration protocols. 

8 ‘‘(D) REGISTRAR.—The term ‘registrar’ 

9 means an organization that— 

10 ‘‘(i) manages the registration of do11 main names; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) during the registration process— 

13 ‘‘(I) verifies that the requested 

14 domain name meets registry require15 ments; and 

16 ‘‘(II) submits the name to the 

17 appropriate registry operator. 

18 ‘‘(E) REGISTRY.—The term ‘registry’ 

19 means an authoritative master database of the 

20 domain names registered in a top-level domain. 

21 ‘‘(F) REGISTRY OPERATOR.—The term 

22 ‘registry operator’ means an organization that 

23 maintains a registry, including by— 


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1 ‘‘(i) receiving requests from registrars 

2 to add, delete, or modify domain names; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(ii) making the requested changes in 

5 the registry. 

6 ‘‘(G) SUSPEND.—The term ‘suspend’ 

7 means, with respect to a domain name, for the 

8 registry operator or registrar to systematically 

9 disable the functionality of the domain name 

10 through a hold or suspension during the bal11 ance of the registration of the domain name, 

12 which may be achieved using domain name reg13 istration protocols. 

14 ‘‘(H) TRUSTED NOTIFIER.—The term 

15 ‘trusted notifier’ includes the following (and the 

16 designees and agents thereof): 

17 ‘‘(i) The Food and Drug Administra18 tion. 

19 ‘‘(ii) The Department of Justice, in20 cluding the Drug Enforcement Administra21 tion. 

22 ‘‘(iii) The Department of Homeland 

23 Security. 

24 ‘‘(iv) A State attorney general. 

25 ‘‘(v) A State board of pharmacy. 


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1 ‘‘(2) LOCKING AND SUSPENSION OF DOMAIN

2 NAMES.—A registry operator or registrar shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) not later than 24 hours after receipt 

4 of a notification from a trusted notifier respect5 ing a domain name that is used to facilitate the 

6 online sale of controlled substances illegally and 

7 that is under the control of the registry oper8 ator or registrar, lock the domain name; and 

9 ‘‘(B) not later than 7 days after receipt of 

10 such notification, suspend the domain name. 

11 ‘‘(3) NOTICE.—Paragraph (2) shall apply in the 

12 case of a notification by a trusted notifier that in13 cludes, at a minimum— 

14 ‘‘(A) the domain name being reported to 

15 the appropriate registry operator or registrar; 

16 ‘‘(B) the date of observation that the do17 main name was used to facilitate the online sale 

18 of controlled substances illegally; 

19 ‘‘(C) a summary of the alleged activities 

20 that constitute a domain name being used to fa21 cilitate the online sale of controlled substances 

22 illegally; and 

23 ‘‘(D) a statement that evidence of offering 

24 controlled substances illegally, such as a 

25 screenshot, has been retained, and is available 


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1 to be shared with the registry operator or reg2 istrar. 

3 ‘‘(4) REGISTRANT APPEAL.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any registrant whose 

5 domain name is locked and suspended pursuant 

6 to paragraph (2) may appeal such action to the 

7 trusted notifier pursuant to subparagraph (B). 

8 ‘‘(B) APPEALS.— 

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In bringing such 

10 an appeal, the registrant for the locked 

11 and suspended domain name may do any 

12 of the following: 

13 ‘‘(I) Contact the applicable reg14 istry operator or registrar to request 

15 information regarding the business 

16 name, or personal name if the trusted 

17 notifier is not a business, and the 

18 email address, of the trusted notifier 

19 who submitted the notification regard20 ing the domain name. 

21 ‘‘(II) Dispute the notification by 

22 submitting any relevant records and 

23 information to the applicable trusted 

24 notifier. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.— 

2 Not later than 15 days after receiving a re3 quest under clause (i)(I), a registry oper4 ator or registrar shall provide the re5 quested information. 

6 ‘‘(iii) INVESTIGATION.—The applica7 ble trusted notifier shall— 

8 ‘‘(I) conduct a reasonable inves9 tigation regarding the registrant and 

10 its domain name to determine whether 

11 notification under paragraph (2) was 

12 improper; and 

13 ‘‘(II) in conducting such inves14 tigation, consider the information pro15 vided by the registrant under clause 

16 (i). 

17 ‘‘(iv) SUCCESSFUL APPEAL.—If the 

18 appeal is successful, the registry operator 

19 or registrar shall lift the suspension and 

20 unlock the domain name within 15 days. 

21 ‘‘(5) AUTHORITY TO LOCK OR SUSPEND A DO22 MAIN NAME.—A registry operator or registrar may 

23 lock and suspend a domain name used to facilitate 

24 the online sale of controlled substances illegally beVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:46 Apr 07, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3984.IS S3984

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1 fore receipt of a notification under this section from 

2 a trusted notifier.’’. 

3 (b) PROHIBITED ACT.—Part D of the Controlled 

4 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 841 et seq.) is amended by 

5 adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 424. LOCKING AND SUSPENSION OF DOMAIN NAMES. 

7 ‘‘(a) OFFENSE.—It shall be unlawful for a registry 

8 operator or registrar to knowingly fail to lock and suspend 

9 any domain name in its control in violation of section 

10 311(k). 

11 ‘‘(b) PENALTY.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any registry operator or 

13 registrar that violates subsection (a) shall be fined 

14 not more than $1,000. 

15 ‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT OFFENSE; INTENT TO DE16 FRAUD OR MISLEAD.—Any registry operator or reg17 istrar that violates subsection (a) after a conviction 

18 of that registry operator or registrar under this sec19 tion has become final shall be fined not more than 

20 $10,000, or both.’’. 

21 (c) APPLICABILITY.—Sections 311(k) and 424 of the 

22 Controlled Substances Act, as added by this section, shall 

23 apply beginning on the date that is 60 days after the date 

24 of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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