60508 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 205 / Wednesday, October 24, 2007 / Proposed Rules 

physical connection to the computer 

system when the authorized user 

requires access to the system through 

remote access; and 

(v) The agents involved and 

procedures performed to ensure the 

remote access connection is 

disconnected when the remote access is 

no longer required. 

(2) In the event of remote access, the 

information technology employees shall 

prepare a complete record of the access 

to include: 

(i) Name or identifier of the employee 

authorizing access; 

(ii) Name or identifier of the 

authorized user accessing system; 

(iii) Date, time, and duration of 

access; and 

(iv) Description of work performed in 

adequate detail to include the old and 

new version numbers, if applicable of 

any software that was modified, and 

details regarding any other changes 

made to the system. 

Dated: October 17, 2007. 

Philip N. Hogen, 

Chairman. 

Norman H. DesRosiers, 

Commissioner. 

Cloyce V. Choney, 

Commissioner. 

[FR Doc. E7–20778 Filed 10–23–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7565–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

National Indian Gaming Commission 

25 CFR Part 547 

RIN 3141–AA29 

Technical Standards for Electronic, 

Computer, or Other Technologic Aids 

Used in the Play of Class II Games 

AGENCY: National Indian Gaming 

Commission, Department of the Interior. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The proposed rule would add 

a new part to the Commission’s 

regulations establishing technical 

standards for Class II games—bingo, 

lotto, other games similar to bingo, pull 

tabs, or ‘‘instant bingo’’—that are played 

using ‘‘electronic, computer, or other 

technologic aids.’’ The proposed rule 

would also establish a process for 

ensuring the integrity of such games and 

aids before their placement in a Class II 

tribal gaming operation. No such 

standards currently exist. The 

Commission proposes this action in 

order to assist tribal gaming regulatory 

authorities and operators in ensuring 

the integrity and security of Class II 

games and the accountability of gaming 

revenue. 

DATES: Submit comments on or before 

December 10, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: Mail comments to 

‘‘Comments on Technical Standards,’’

National Indian Gaming Commission, 

1441 L Street, NW., Washington, DC 

20005, Attn: Michael Gross, Associate 

General Counsel, General Law. 

Comments may be transmitted by 

facsimile to 202–632–7066, but the 

original also must be mailed or 

submitted to the above address. 

Comments may be sent electronically, 

instead of by mail or fax, to 

technical_standards@nigc.gov. Please 

indicate ‘‘Class II technical regulations’’

in the subject line. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael Gross, Associate General 

Counsel, General Law, Office of General 

Counsel, telephone: 202.632.7003. This 

is not a toll free call. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, 25 

U.S.C. 2701–21 (‘‘IGRA’’), enacted by 

the Congress in 1988, establishes the 

National Indian Gaming Commission 

(‘‘NIGC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’) and sets out 

a comprehensive framework for the 

regulation of gaming on Indian lands. 

IGRA establishes three classes of Indian 

gaming. 

‘‘Class I gaming’’ means social games 

played solely for prizes of minimal 

value or traditional forms of Indian 

gaming played in connection with tribal 

ceremonies or celebrations. 25 U.S.C. 

2703(6). Indian tribes regulate Class I 

gaming exclusively. 

‘‘Class II gaming’’ means the game of 

chance commonly known as bingo, 

whether or not electronic, computer, or 

other technologic aids are used in 

connection therewith, including, if 

played in the same location, pull-tabs, 

lotto, punch boards, tip jars, instant 

bingo, and other games similar to bingo, 

as well as various non-house-banked 

card games. 25 U.S.C. 2703(7)(A). 

Specifically excluded from Class II 

gaming are banking card games such as 

blackjack, electronic or 

electromechanical facsimiles of any 

game of chance, and slot machines of 

any kind. 25 U.S.C. 2703(7)(B). Indian 

tribes and the NIGC share regulatory 

authority over Class II gaming. Indian 

tribes can engage in Class II gaming 

without any state involvement. 

‘‘Class III gaming’’ includes all forms 

of gaming that are not Class I gaming or 

Class II gaming. 25 U.S.C. 2703(8). Class 

III gaming thus includes all other games 

of chance, including lotteries and most 

forms of casino gaming, such as slot 

machines, roulette, and banking card 

games like blackjack. Class III gaming 

may be conducted lawfully only if the 

tribe and the state in which the tribe is 

located enter into a tribal-state compact 

for such gaming. Alternatively, a tribe 

may operate Class III gaming under 

gaming procedures issued by the 

Secretary of the Interior. Because of the 

compact requirement, states, Indian 

tribes, and the NIGC possess regulatory 

authority over Class III gaming. In 

addition, the United States Department 

of Justice possesses exclusive criminal, 

and certain civil, jurisdiction over Class 

III gaming on Indian lands. 

The Commission has determined that 

it is in the best interests of Indian 

gaming to adopt technical standards that 

govern the implementation of 

electronic, computer, and other 

technologic aids used in the play of 

Class II games because no such 

standards currently exist. The technical 

standards seek to provide a means for 

tribal gaming regulatory authorities and 

tribal operators to ensure that the 

integrity of Class II games played with 

the use of electronic, computer, or other 

technologic aids is maintained; that the 

games and aids are secure; and that the 

games and aids are fully auditable, i.e. 

that they provide a means for the 

gaming authority and gaming operation 

to account for all gaming revenue. 

Development of the Proposed Rule 

The development of the proposed rule 

began formally with the March 31, 2004, 

appointment of an advisory committee 

comprised of tribal government 

representatives with substantial 

experience and expertise in gaming 

regulation and operations, the 

Commission, and Commission staff. 

Although the Commission initially 

intended to develop one set of 

regulations, this committee’s work 

ultimately resulted in the Commission’s 

publication of a proposed rule for Class 

II classification standards, 71 FR 30238 

(May 25, 2006), and a separate proposed 

rule for Class II technical standards, 71 

FR 46336 (August 11, 2006). A detailed 

history of the advisory committee’s 

work on the technical standards to that 

point, its meetings, the Commission’s 

consultations with Indian tribes, and the 

contributions and participation of the 

interested general public is published in 

the preamble to that proposed rule. 71 

FR 46336–46337. 

The ultimate goal of that first set of 

technical standards was as it is here—

to ensure the security and integrity of 

Class II games played with technologic 

aids and to ensure the auditability of the 

gaming revenue that those games earn. 


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It was also the intention of that first set 

of technical standards to allow for 

flexibility in the implementation of 

technology and not to prohibit the use 

of future technologies unforeseen and as 

yet undeveloped. 

Given the importance of the 

regulations to the industry, the 

Commission, which had initially set a 

comment period of 45 days, reopened 

the comment period for an additional 76 

days, from November 15, 2006, through 

January 31, 2007. 71 FR 71115 

(December 8, 2006); 71 FR 76618 

(December 21, 2006). 

Public comments made it clear to the 

Commission that the first set of 

proposed technical standards fell short 

of its goal of technological flexibility. In 

particular, commenters stated that the 

first set of proposed technical standards 

would mandate particular 

implementations of technology and that 

some of those were not practical or 

feasible. Commenters suggested that 

rather than prescribe particular 

implementations of technology, the 

standards should describe the regulatory 

outcomes that the Commission desires 

and leave it to the manufacturers to 

develop ways of meeting those 

regulatory requirements. 

At a December 5, 2006, advisory 

committee meeting in Washington, DC, 

the tribal representatives to the advisory 

committee strongly seconded this 

sentiment. The details of the solution, 

however, were not immediately 

apparent. Before providing further 

advice to the Commission, the tribal 

representatives wished to consult 

further with other tribal representatives 

and regulators, and with industry 

representatives. They therefore 

suggested that they assemble a working 

group made up of representatives from 

the Class II gaming industry—tribal 

operators, tribal regulators, and 

manufacturers alike—to assist it. 

Accepting the fundamental premise that 

the technical standards ought to be 

descriptive rather than prescriptive, the 

Commission agreed to allow the tribal 

representatives to work independently 

of the Commission to redraft the 

technical standards. Subsequently, the 

Commission withdrew the first 

proposed technical standards. 72 FR 

7360 (February 15, 2007). 

The tribal representatives to the 

advisory committee formed a working 

group, which met at various times, in 

person and telephonically, from the end 

of 2006 through the middle of 2007 to 

draft this new set of technical standards. 

The Commission did not participate in 

the establishment of this working group. 

On some occasions, the tribal 

representatives invited the participation 

of Commission staff members to answer 

questions and to provide explanation 

about the Commission’s regulatory 

goals. Commission staff participated in 

this capacity during in-person meetings 

on December 11–12, 2006, in Las Vegas, 

Nevada, and June 5, 2007, in Dallas, 

Texas. 

The full advisory committee, 

including the Commission, met to 

discuss drafts of proposed technical 

standards on February 22, 2007, in 

Albuquerque, New Mexico, April 26, 

2007, in Seattle, Washington, and May 

22, 2007, in Bloomington, Minnesota. 

All of these meetings were open to the 

interested public. 

The Commission is immensely 

grateful to the tribal representatives on 

the advisory committee and to those 

who assisted the tribal representatives 

for all of their hard work and for the 

high-quality draft regulations that 

resulted from their efforts. The proposed 

rule is largely adopted from the final 

draft of descriptive technical standards, 

which was delivered to the Commission 

by the tribal representatives to the 

advisory committee on June 18, 2006. 

There are places, of course, where the 

Commission felt it could not accept the 

draft’s recommendations and has 

proposed rules more stringent than the 

tribal representatives to the advisory 

committee would have preferred. One 

such area of disagreement concerns the 

recall and tracking of alternative 

displays. 

It is a common practice for bingo 

games played using electronic player 

stations to provide alternative display of 

game results above and beyond the 

numbers marked and patterns obtained 

on a bingo card. Most frequently, these 

alternative displays take the form of 

spinning reels such as one would find 

on slot machines. A winning bingo 

pattern, for example, might also be 

displayed as a winning combination of 

symbols on the reels. The Commission 

regards such alternative displays as 

perfectly permissible, provided that it is 

the bingo game, and not the spinning 

reels, that determine the player’s results. 

The technical standards require a last 

game recall function to be able to 

display alternative results as well as the 

actual game results, if a Class II gaming 

system has a last game recall. The tribal 

representatives to the advisory 

committee have said that they regard the 

requirement as both unnecessary, since 

the alternative displays do not 

determine game results, and beyond the 

scope of the Commission’s authority. 

The Commission, however, regards 

recall of alternative displays as an 

important part of safeguarding the 

integrity of gaming, notwithstanding the 

fact that alternate displays do not 

determine, and are not relevant to, the 

outcome of the game. The fact remains, 

however, that the alternative displays 

are the source of many patron disputes, 

and providing for their automatic recall 

provides to tribal gaming regulatory 

authorities information essential to 

resolving such disputes quickly, 

completely, and fairly. Over and above 

this, it is the Commission’s 

understanding that many manufacturers 

already include alternative displays in 

their recall functions, or could easily do 

so. 

Purpose and Scope 

The proposed part 547 applies to all 

Class II games played using electronic, 

computer, or other technologic aids, or 

modifications of such games and aids. 

Class II games played through such 

technologic aids are widely used in 

Indian gaming operations, yet no 

uniform standards exist to govern their 

implementation. The proposed rule 

seeks to remedy that absence and create 

a regulatory structure under which 

tribal gaming regulatory authorities and 

tribal operators are able to ensure the 

integrity and security of Class II games 

played with the use of electronic, 

computer, or other technologic aids and 

the auditability of gaming revenue. 

There is a great variety in the 

technologic aids used in the play of 

Class II games and, therefore, a great 

variety in the means used to play the 

games. An operation may, for example, 

play bingo using no aids at all. A caller 

may select numbers using ping pong 

balls taken from a hopper, and players 

purchase paper cards from an employee 

of the operation and mark them with an 

inked dauber. Alternatively, numbers 

may be selected randomly using an 

electronic random number generator, 

which in turn displays the selected 

number on a display board. Instead of 

paper, players may use electronic 

handheld devices to monitor and mark 

their cards. The handheld devices are 

purchased and have cards loaded on 

them at a point-of-sale retail terminal. 

Still again, bingo may be 

implemented electronically on clientserver architectures. A common 

arrangement, but by no means the only 

one possible, is to have client machines 

on the casino floor as electronic player 

stations. These display bingo cards, 

allow the players to cover numbers 

when drawn, and pay any prizes won. 

The server, usually located off the floor, 

draws random numbers and passes 

them along data communications lines 

to the client machines for game play. 

Credits may be placed on the electronic 

player station by inserting cash or 


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electronically drawing down an account 

separately established. 

The challenge, then, for writing 

technical standards is to address all of 

the various ways that Class II games can 

be played. Central to the proposed rule, 

therefore, is the definition of ‘‘Class II 

gaming system,’’ which refers to any 

given collection of components used in 

the play of a II game: ‘‘All components, 

whether or not technologic aids in 

electronic, computer, mechanical or 

other technologic form, that function 

together to aid the play of one or more 

Class II games, including accounting 

functions mandated by these 

regulations.’’ The notion of the ‘‘gaming 

system’’ thus encompasses bingo played 

in all of the implementations described 

above. 

It is the ‘‘gaming system’’ that must 

meet the technical standards of the 

proposed part 547. Like the gaming 

system itself, the standards are 

conceived generally so that they may be 

met by a gaming system, regardless of 

the particular components that may 

comprise it. For example, the proposed 

rule does not refer to ‘‘bill validators,’’

an electronic device into which a patron 

may insert a bill in order to place credits 

on a gaming machine. Instead, proposed 

part 547 describes ‘‘financial instrument 

acceptors’’ and the standards they must 

meet. ‘‘Financial instrument acceptor’’

is broad enough in meaning to 

encompass not only ‘‘bill validator’’ but 

also a cash drawer staffed by an 

employee of the gaming operation. 

Proposed part 547 provides minimum 

standards for the security of the 

‘‘acceptors’’ and of the money or 

vouchers (generally, ‘‘financial 

instruments’’) they accept. 

Further, because of the breadth of 

possible implementations for Class II 

gaming systems, proposed part 547 

requires that gaming equipment and 

software used with Class II gaming 

systems meet the requirements of the 

part, but only those that are applicable 

to the system as implemented. This is, 

in short, a rule of construction of 

common sense. For example, if a system 

takes only cash and lacks the ability to 

print or accept vouchers, then any 

standards that apply to vouchers do not 

apply. 

All of that said, the proposed rule 

deliberately provides only minimum 

standards. Tribes and tribal gaming 

regulatory authorities may add any 

additional requirements, or more 

stringent requirements, needed to suit 

their particular circumstances. 

In order to ensure compliance with 

the technical standards, the proposed 

rule borrows from the established 

practices of tribal, state, and provincial 

gaming jurisdictions across North 

America. The proposed rule establishes, 

as a necessary prerequisite to a gaming 

system being offered to the public for 

play in a Class II gaming operation, 

review of the system by a qualified, 

independent testing laboratory and 

approval by the tribal gaming regulatory 

authority. 

Under the proposed rule, a tribe’s 

gaming regulatory authority will require 

all Class II gaming systems, or 

modifications thereof, to be submitted to 

a testing laboratory for review and 

analysis. That submission includes a 

working prototype of the gaming system 

or modification, all pertinent software, 

and anything else the testing laboratory 

needs for its complete and thorough 

review. In turn, the laboratory will 

review whether the gaming system does 

or does not meet the requirements of the 

rule, as well as any additional 

requirements adopted by the tribe’s 

gaming regulatory authority. The 

laboratory will provide a written report 

of its analysis and conclusions to the 

tribal gaming regulatory authority for 

approval or disapproval of the gaming 

system or modification. The tribal 

gaming regulatory authority will retain 

the report as long as the gaming system 

or modification in question remains 

available to the public for play. 

The Commission understands that 

existing Class II gaming systems likely 

do not meet all of the requirements of 

the proposed rule. In order to avoid the 

potentially significant economic and 

practical consequences of requiring 

immediate compliance, the proposed 

rule implements a five-year 

‘‘grandfather period’’ for existing 

gaming systems. 

Existing gaming systems may be 

grandfathered and exempt from 

compliance with all of the requirements 

of the proposed rule if they are put 

through a similar review by a qualified 

independent testing laboratory and 

approved by a tribal gaming regulatory 

authority. Specifically, in order to be 

eligible for grandfathering, a gaming 

system must be submitted to a testing 

laboratory within 120 days of the 

proposed part 547 becoming final. The 

testing laboratory must review the 

gaming system for compliance with a 

specific, minimum set of 

requirements—random number 

generation, no reflexive or secondary 

decision-making after random numbers 

are drawn, the inability to change bingo 

cards during the play of a game, and a 

mechanism for verifying game software. 

The laboratory must issue a report on 

these issues to the tribal gaming 

regulatory authority, which must make 

a finding that the gaming system 

qualifies for grandfather status. Once a 

gaming system is qualified, the 

manufacturer must label each player 

interface on the system with its date of 

manufacture and certify the same to the 

tribal gaming regulatory authority. This 

requirement effectively freezes the 

number of grandfathered interfaces in 

use. 

This is not to say, however, that 

grandfathered gaming systems must 

remain entirely static. Tribal gaming 

regulatory authorities may permit 

modifications to gaming system 

software or hardware that increases 

compliance with the requirements of 

proposed part 547, even if the 

modifications do not make the system 

wholly compliant. Tribal gaming 

regulatory authorities may also 

authorize modifications to gaming 

system software that does not detract 

from, compromise, or prejudice the 

proper functioning, security or integrity 

of the Class II gaming system and the 

system’s overall compliance with the 

requirements of proposed part 547. 

Changes such as new pay tables, new 

game themes, and new alternative 

displays fall within this latter category. 

Finally, the Commission does not 

intend for proposed part 547 to stand 

alone. The advisory committee pointed 

out, and the Commission agrees, that 

many of the functions placed in the 

technical standards proposed on August 

11, 2006, and now withdrawn, are more 

properly characterized as minimum 

internal control standards for a gaming 

operation. Accordingly, the Commission 

is simultaneously publishing, as a 

separate proposed rule, a set of 

minimum internal control standards for 

the play of bingo that is intended to be 

applied in conjunction with the 

standards set forth in this proposed rule. 

In short, game manufacturers and tribal 

gaming regulators must look to both sets 

of rules for applicable standards for the 

construction and operation of Class II 

gaming systems. 

The Commission intends as well that 

these two parts be applied in 

conjunction with a third proposed rule, 

also published simultaneously, 

governing the classification of bingo and 

pull tabs and distinguishing these Class 

II games played with technological aids 

from Class III facsimiles of games of 

chance. References in the proposed part 

547 to ‘‘minimum internal control 

standards’’ and ‘‘classification 

standards’’ refer to these two other sets 

of rules. 


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Regulatory Matters 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The proposed rule will not have a 

significant economic effect on a 

substantial number of small entities as 

defined under the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq. Indian tribes 

are not considered small entities for the 

purposes of the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act. 

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement 

Fairness Act 

It is not entirely clear whether the 

proposed rule, considered separately 

and apart from the Commission’s 

proposed part 546, ‘‘Classification 

Standards for Bingo * * * Using 

‘Electronic, Computer, or Other 

Technologic Aids’,’’ is a major rule 

under 5 U.S.C. 804.2, the Small 

Business Regulatory Enforcement 

Fairness Act. The NIGC has 

commissioned an economic impact 

study of the two proposals taken 

together. The study makes clear that the 

cost to the Indian gaming industry of 

complying with the two proposed rules 

will have an annual effect on the 

economy of $100 million or more, at 

least for the first 5 years after adoption. 

Accordingly, the Commission treats the 

proposed rule as a major rule. The 

economic impact study is available for 

review at the Commission’s Web site, 

http://www.nigc.gov, or by request using 

the addresses or telephone numbers, 

above. 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

The Commission, as an independent 

regulatory agency within the 

Department of the Interior, is exempt 

from compliance with the Unfunded 

Mandates Reform Act. 2 U.S.C. 658(1); 

1502(1). 

Takings 

In accordance with Executive Order 

12630, the Commission has determined 

that this proposed rule does not have 

significant takings implications. A 

takings implication assessment is not 

required. 

Civil Justice Reform 

In accordance with Executive Order 

12988, the Commission’s Office of 

General Counsel has determined that 

the proposed rule does not unduly 

burden the judicial system and meets 

the requirements of sections 3(a) and 

3(b)(2) of the Order. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

This proposed rule requires 

information collection under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 

U.S.C. 3501, et seq., and is subject to 

review by the Office of Management and 

Budget. The title, description, and 

respondent categories are discussed 

below, together with an estimate of the 

annual information collection burden. 

With respect to the following 

collections of information, the 

Commission invites comments on: (1) 

Whether the proposed collections of 

information are necessary for proper 

performance of its functions, including 

whether the information would have 

practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the 

Commission’s estimate of the burden of 

the proposed collections of information, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used; (3) 

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and (4) ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on respondents, including the use of 

automated collection techniques, when 

appropriate, and other forms of 

information technology. 

Title: Process for Certification of 

Electronic, Computer, or other 

Technologic Aids used in the play of 

Class II games and process for 

qualification of independent testing 

laboratories, proposed 25 CFR 547.4. 

Summary of information and 

description of need: This provision in 

the proposed rule establishes a process 

for ensuring that electronic, computer, 

or other technologic aids used with the 

play of Class II gaming systems have 

been reviewed and evaluated by a 

qualified, independent testing 

laboratory prior to their approval by a 

tribal gaming regulatory authority and 

their placement on the floor in a Class 

II tribal gaming operation. The process 

helps to ensure the proper functioning 

of the equipment and the integrity, 

fairness, and auditability of games 

played. 

The process requires a tribe’s gaming 

regulatory authority to require that all 

Class II gaming systems, or 

modifications thereto, be submitted to a 

qualified, independent testing 

laboratory for review and analysis. That 

submission includes a working 

prototype of the game and aid, all 

pertinent software, and complete 

documentation and descriptions of all 

functions and components. In turn, the 

laboratory will determine that the 

gaming system does or does not meet 

the requirements of the rule and any 

additional requirements adopted by the 

tribe’s gaming regulatory authority. The 

laboratory will provide a written report 

of its analysis and conclusions to the 

tribal gaming regulatory authority for its 

approval or disapproval of the gaming 

system or modification. The tribal 

gaming regulatory authority will retain 

the laboratory report as long as the 

gaming system or modification remains 

available to the public for play. 

This process is necessary to ensure 

the security and integrity of Class II 

gaming. Technical standards such as 

those in the proposed rule are a 

fundamental part of Class III gaming and 

of non-Indian casino gaming throughout 

North America. No uniform standards 

exist for Class II gaming, however. The 

implementation of such standards will 

assist tribal gaming regulators in 

ensuring that games are implemented 

fairly, that all technologic aids are 

secure and function properly, and that 

the games and aids allow the tribe and 

the operator to properly account for 

gaming revenue. 

This provision in the proposed rule 

also contemplates an analogous process 

for determining whether a Class II 

gaming system is eligible for the fiveyear grandfather period made available 

by the proposed rule. This process again 

requires a tribe’s gaming regulatory 

authority to require that a Class II 

gaming system be submitted, within 120 

days after the effective date of part 547, 

to a qualified, independent testing 

laboratory for review and analysis. The 

submission must include a working 

prototype of the game and aid, all 

pertinent software, and complete 

documentation and descriptions of all 

functions and components. In turn, the 

laboratory will determine that the 

gaming system does or does not meet a 

small set of certain specified 

requirements of the proposed rule. The 

laboratory will provide a written report 

of its analysis and conclusions to the 

tribal gaming regulatory authority for its 

finding that the gaming system is or is 

not eligible for grandfather status. Upon 

a finding of eligibility, the tribal gaming 

regulatory authority will issue a 

certificate to that effect to the gaming 

system manufacturer and a description 

of the grandfathered game to the 

Commission. 

This process is necessary to ensure a 

certain minimum integrity and security 

for games while at the same time 

avoiding potentially significant 

economic and practical consequences of 

requiring immediate and complete 

compliance with the standards of the 

proposed rule. 

Finally, the proposed rule establishes 

a process for testing laboratories to 

apply for eligibility to provide testing 

services under the proposed rule. The 

testing laboratories must submit to 

suitability determinations made by the 

tribes they serve, and these 

determinations include criminal 

background checks for the laboratories’


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principals. These determinations are 

made according to the same standards 

used to license the primary management 

officials and key employees of Indian 

gaming operations under the Indian 

Gaming Regulatory Act. All of this 

requires the submission by the 

laboratory of corporate financial 

information; qualifications of the 

engineering staff; information (and 

inspections) of the available engineering 

facilities, and personal information for 

principals, including tax returns, 

bankruptcies and law suits, work 

histories and references. 

Given the essential role accorded to 

laboratories in ensuring the integrity, 

security, and auditability of Class II 

games, this process is essential to 

ensuring the competence, integrity, and 

independence of the testing laboratories 

and the suitability of their decision 

makers, i.e. to ensure that undesirable 

elements are kept out of gaming. 

Respondents: The respondents are 

independent testing laboratories, 

developers and manufacturers of Class II 

gaming systems, and Indian tribes. The 

Commission estimates that there are 

currently 20 such manufacturers, 5 such 

laboratories, and 226 gaming tribes. The 

frequency of responses to the 

information collection requirement will 

vary. 

Information Collection Burden: In 

order to qualify under the grandfather 

provisions of the proposed rule, a 

gaming system must be submitted to a 

testing laboratory for review and 

analysis during the first 120 days after 

the effective date of the final rule. The 

Commission estimates that there are 

approximately 25 Class II gaming 

systems in existence and that all will be 

submitted during this period. 

Following the initial 120-day period, 

the frequency of submissions of new 

gaming systems or of modifications to 

existing gaming systems will be entirely 

market driven. The Commission 

anticipates approximately a 20% 

turnover each year for the five-year 

grandfather period. Consequently, there 

should be approximately five 

submissions of new gaming systems 

each year. 

Submissions of modifications are, as a 

matter of course, a more common 

practice. Software in particular 

commonly goes through many iterations 

in development and continues to be 

improved and revised even after sale 

and placement on a gaming operation’s 

floor. That said, the submission of 

modifications tends to be sporadic, with 

less frequent or occasional submissions 

punctuated by fairly steady periods of 

submissions when new systems or 

modifications are introduced. The NIGC 

anticipates there will be approximately 

300 submissions of modifications and 

thus 300 reports produced by testing 

laboratories each year following the 120- 

day period that begins with the effective 

date of the final rule. 

The preparation and submission of 

supporting documentation by 

manufacturers or a tribal gaming 

operation (as opposed to gaming system 

hardware and software per se) is an 

information collection burden under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act, as is the 

preparation of reports by the test 

laboratories or the preparation of a 

grandfather certificate and explanation 

of gaming system by a tribal gaming 

regulatory authority. 

It is the existing practice in the 

gaming industry, both Indian and nonIndian alike, for the game manufacturer 

to submit a gaming system to a testing 

laboratory for review and analysis. The 

proposed rule leaves open the 

possibility that a tribal gaming 

regulatory authority may require the 

management of a gaming operation to 

make a required submission. The 

Commission anticipates, however, that 

it will be the responsibility of the 

gaming system manufacturers to make 

the submissions to testing laboratories. 

The amount of documentation 

submitted by a manufacturer as part of 

a submission of a gaming system and 

the size of a laboratory report is a 

function of the complexity of the 

gaming system submitted for review. 

Submission for minor modifications of 

software or hardware that a 

manufacturer has already submitted and 

that a laboratory has previously 

examined will be a matter of little time 

both for manufacturer and laboratory, 

while the submission and review of an 

entirely new game platform will be time 

consuming. The provision of a 

grandfather certificate and a description 

of a gaming systems component are 

small matters as that information can be 

taken directly from a testing laboratory’s 

report. 

The practice of submission and 

review set out in the proposed rule, 

however, is not new. It is already part 

of the regulatory requirements in tribal, 

state, and Canadian provincial gaming 

jurisdictions throughout North America. 

Manufacturers already have significant 

compliance personnel and 

infrastructure in place, and the very 

existence of private, independent 

laboratories is due to these 

requirements. 

Accordingly, based upon the 

discussions with leading testing 

laboratories and with manufacturers for 

the Indian gaming and non-Indian 

gaming markets, the NIGC estimates that 

gathering and preparing documentation 

for a submission of a single, complete 

gaming system will require, on average, 

8 hours for manufacturer’s employee. 

Following examination and analysis, 

NIGC estimates that writing a report for 

a complete gaming system will require, 

on average, 10 hours of a laboratory 

engineer’s time. For the submission of 

modifications to a gaming system, NIGC 

estimates 4 hours for a manufacturer’s 

employee. For the report on a 

modification, NIGC estimates 5 hours 

for a laboratory engineer. 

Thus, the information collection 

requirements will be a 200-hour burden 

on manufacturers industry-wide during 

the first 120 days after the final rule 

becomes effective and a 1200-hour 

burden industry-wide thereafter. The 

information collection requirements 

will be a 250-hour burden on 

laboratories for the grandfather 

submissions made during the first 120 

days and a 1500-hour burden thereafter. 

Next, the Commission anticipates that 

tribal gaming regulatory authorities will 

issue grandfather certificates to 

manufacturers and send a description of 

grandfathered systems to the 

Commission for all of the approximately 

25 existing gaming systems. The 

preparation of these certificates and 

descriptions will be a small matter as all 

of the necessary information is 

contained in the testing laboratory 

reports and will take no more than 0.5 

hours to prepare. 

Finally, the proposed rule requires 

tribal gaming regulatory authorities to 

maintain laboratory reports as long as 

the game system or modification at issue 

is available for play. This, however, is 

a ministerial function that involves little 

more than filing, and occasionally 

retrieving, the report. As this is already 

common practice among tribal gaming 

regulatory authorities, the Commission 

estimates that 0.1 hours per report will 

be dedicated to these tasks. 

The following table summarizes the 

annual hour burden: 


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Provision Respondents No. of respondents 

Collections, 

1st 120 days 

Hours per collection Total annual hours 

Collections, 

day 121 forward, per 

annum 

Hours per collection 

Total annual 

hours 

25 CFR 547.4 Laboratories 5 25 10 250 300 5 1500 

25 CFR 547.4 Manufacturers.20 25 8 200 300 4 1200 

25 CFR 547.4 Tribal Gaming Operations.226 0 0 0 0 0 0 

25 CFR .......... Tribal Gaming regulatory Authorities.226 25 .5 12 .5 300 0 .1 30 

The proposed rule also requires a 

determination of suitability for each of 

the approximately 5 testing laboratories. 

The information required can be 

substantial: Corporate financial 

information; qualifications of the 

engineering staff; information (and 

inspections) of the engineering facilities 

available, and personal information for 

principals, including tax returns, 

bankruptcies and lawsuits, work 

histories and references. 

However, the 5 existing testing 

laboratories have already collected and 

provided this information—multiple 

times—in order to be licensed in Tribal 

and non-Tribal gaming jurisdictions 

nationwide. The Commission estimates 

that the re-submission of such 

information would take the necessary 

laboratory employees 20 hours to 

accomplish once. As the gaming tribes 

typically use only one gaming 

laboratory, the submission of suitability 

determinations to 226 tribal gaming 

regulatory authorities would total 4,520 

hours. 

The Commission believes, however, 

that the hour burden is not likely to be 

this high. The proposed rule permits a 

tribal gaming regulatory authority to 

rely upon a suitability determination 

already made by another gaming 

jurisdiction in the United States, rather 

than require a new suitability 

determination for a testing laboratory. 

The existing testing laboratories are 

already licensed in numerous 

jurisdictions throughout the United 

States, and the Commission believes 

that approximately 90%—203 of 226—

of the tribal gaming authorities will 

accept existing suitability 

determinations from other jurisdictions. 

The submission by a testing lab of an 

existing suitability determination 

amounts to the writing of a letter. The 

NIGC estimates that the submission of 

such letters will take the necessary 

laboratory employees 0.5 hours to 

accomplish once. As each of the gaming 

tribes typically uses only one gaming 

laboratory, the submission of suitability 

determinations of up to 203 tribal 

gaming authorities would total 101.5 

hours. For the remaining 10% or 23 

tribal gaming regulatory authorities, the 

submission burden on laboratories is 20 

hours per tribe or 460 hours. If every 

tribe requires annual re-licensing, the 

subsequent annual hours burden on the 

5 laboratories is 561.5 hours. 

Comments: Pursuant to the Paperwork 

Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3507(d), the 

Commission has submitted a copy of 

this proposed rule to OMB for its review 

and approval of this information 

collection. Interested persons are 

requested to send comments regarding 

the burden, estimates, or any other 

aspect of the information collection, 

including suggestions for reducing the 

burden (1) directly to the Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for 

National Indian Gaming Commission, 

725 17th St., NW., Washington DC, 

20503, and (2) to Michael Gross, 

Associate General Counsel, General 

Law, National Indian Gaming 

Commission, 1441 L Street, NW., 

Washington DC 20005. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

The Commission has determined that 

this proposed rule does not constitute a 

major federal action significantly 

affecting the quality of the human 

environment and that no detailed 

statement is required pursuant to the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et. seq). 

List of Subjects in 25 CFR Part 547 

Gambling, Indian-lands, Indian-tribal 

government, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, the Commission proposes to 

amend 25 CFR Chapter III by adding 

part 547 to read as follows: 

PART 547—MINIMUM TECHNICAL 

STANDARDS FOR GAMING 

EQUIPMENT USED WITH THE PLAY 

OF CLASS II GAMES. 

Sec. 

547.1 What is the purpose of this part? 

547.2 How do these regulations affect State 

jurisdiction? 

547.3 What are the definitions for this part? 

547.4 How do I comply with this part? 

547.5 What are the rules of interpretation 

and of general application for this part? 

547.6 What are the minimum technical 

standards for enrolling and enabling 

Class II gaming system components? 

547.7 What are the minimum technical 

hardware standards applicable to Class II 

gaming systems? 

547.8 What are the minimum technical 

software standards applicable to Class II 

gaming systems? 

547.9 What are the minimum technical 

standards for Class II gaming system 

accounting functions? 

547.10 What are the minimum standards for 

Class II gaming system critical events? 

547.11 What are the minimum technical 

standards for money and credit 

handling? 

547.12 What are the minimum technical 

standards for downloading on a Class II 

gaming system? 

547.13 What are the minimum technical 

standards for program storage media? 

547.14 What are the minimum technical 

standards for electronic random number 

generation? 

547.15 What are the minimum technical 

standards for electronic data 

communications between system 

components? 

547.16 What are the minimum standards for 

game artwork, glass, and rules? 

547.17 How does a gaming operation apply 

for a variance from these standards? 

Authority: 25 U.S.C. 2706(b). 

§ 547.1 What is the purpose of this part? 

The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, 25 

U.S.C. 2703(7)(A)(i), permits the use of 

electronic, computer, or other 

technologic aids in connection with the 

play of Class II games. This part 

establishes the minimum technical 

standards governing the use of such 

aids. 


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§ 547.2 How do these regulations affect 

State jurisdiction? 

Nothing in this part shall be 

construed to grant to a State jurisdiction 

in Class II gaming or to extend a State’s 

jurisdiction in Class III gaming. 

§ 547.3 What are the definitions for this 

part? 

For the purposes of this part, the 

following definitions apply: 

Account Access Component, a 

component within a Class II gaming 

system that reads or recognizes account 

access media and gives a patron the 

ability to interact with their account. 

Account Access Medium, a magnetic 

stripe card or any other medium 

inserted into, or otherwise made to 

interact with, an account access 

component in order to give a patron the 

ability to interact with an account. 

Audit Mode, the mode where it is 

possible to view Class II gaming system 

accounting functions, statistics, etc. and 

perform non-player related functions. 

Agent, an employee or other person 

authorized by the gaming operation, as 

approved and licensed by the tribal 

gaming regulatory authority, designated 

for certain decisions, tasks and actions 

in the gaming operation. 

Cancel Credit, an action initiated by 

the Class II gaming system where some 

or all of a player’s credits are removed 

by an attendant and paid to the player. 

Cashless System, a system that 

performs cashless transactions and 

maintains records of those cashless 

transactions. 

Cashless Transaction, a movement of 

funds electronically from one 

component to another, often to or from 

a patron deposit account. 

CD–ROM, Compact Disc—Read Only 

Memory. 

Chairman, the Chairman of the 

National Indian Gaming Commission 

established by the Indian Gaming 

Regulatory Act, 25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq. 

Class II Game, the same as ‘‘class II 

gaming’’ in 25 U.S.C. 2703(7)(A). 

Class II Gaming System, all 

components, whether or not technologic 

aids in electronic, computer, 

mechanical, or other technologic form, 

that function together to aid the play of 

one or more Class II games, including 

accounting functions mandated by these 

regulations. 

Commission, the National Indian 

Gaming Commission. 

Coupon, a financial instrument of 

fixed wagering value, usually paper, 

that can only be used to acquire noncashable credits through interaction 

with a voucher system. This does not 

include instruments such as printed 

advertising material that cannot be 

validated directly by a voucher system. 

Critical Memory, memory locations 

storing data essential to the 

functionality of the Class II gaming 

system. 

DLL, a Dynamic-Link Library file. 

Download Package, approved data 

sent to a component of a Class II gaming 

system for such purposes as changing 

the component software. 

DVD, Digital Video Disk or Digital 

Versatile Disk. 

Electromagnetic Interference, the 

physical characteristic of an electronic 

component to emit electronic noise 

either into free air, onto the power lines, 

or onto communication cables. 

Electrostatic Discharge, a single-event, 

rapid transfer of electrostatic charge 

between two objects, usually resulting 

when two objects at different potentials 

come into direct contact with each 

other. 

EPROM, Erasable Programmable Read 

Only Memory—a storage area that may 

be filled with data and information, that 

once written is not modifiable, and that 

is retained even if there is no power 

applied to the machine. 

Fault, an event that when detected by 

a Class II gaming system causes a 

discontinuance of game play or other 

component functions. 

Financial Instrument, any tangible 

item of value tendered in Class II game 

play, including, but not limited to, bills, 

coins, vouchers and coupons. 

Financial Instrument Acceptor, any 

component that accepts financial 

instruments. 

Financial Instrument Dispenser, any 

component that dispenses financial 

instruments. 

Financial Instrument Storage 

Component, any component that stores 

financial instruments. 

Flash Memory, non-volatile memory 

that retains its data when the power is 

turned off and that can be electronically 

erased and reprogrammed without being 

removed from the circuit board. 

Game Software, the operational 

program or programs that govern the 

play, display of results, and/or awarding 

of prizes or credits for Class II games. 

Gaming Equipment, all electronic, 

electro-mechanical, mechanical, or 

other physical components utilized in 

the play of Class II games. 

Hardware, gaming equipment. 

Interruption, any form of misoperation, component failure, or 

interference to the Class II gaming 

equipment. 

Modification, a revision to any 

hardware or software used in a Class II 

gaming system. 

Non-cashable credit, credits given by 

an operator to a patron; placed on a 

Class II gaming system through a 

coupon, cashless transaction or other 

approved means; and capable of 

activating play but not being converted 

to cash. 

Patron Deposit Account, an account 

maintained on behalf of a patron, for the 

purpose of depositing and withdrawing 

cashable funds for the primary purpose 

of interacting with a gaming activity. 

Player Interface, any component or 

components of a Class II gaming system, 

including an electronic or technologic 

aid (not limited to terminals, player 

stations, handhelds, fixed units, etc.), 

that directly enables player interaction 

in a Class II game. 

Prize Schedule, the set of prizes 

available to players for achieving predesignated patterns in the Class II game. 

Program Storage Media, an electronic 

data storage component, such as a CDROM. EPROM, hard disk, or flash 

memory on which software is stored 

and from which software is read. 

Progressive Prize, a prize that 

increases by a selectable or predefined 

amount based on play of a Class II game. 

Random Number Generator (RNG), a 

software module, hardware component 

or combination of these designed to 

produce outputs that are effectively 

random. 

Reflexive Software, any software that 

has the ability to manipulate and/or 

replace a randomly generated outcome 

for the purpose of changing the results 

of a Class II game. 

Removable/Rewritable storage media, 

program or data storage components 

that can be removed from gaming 

equipment and be written to, or 

rewritten by, the gaming equipment or 

by other equipment designed for that 

purpose. 

Server, a computer which controls 

one or more applications or 

environments within a Class II gaming 

system. 

Test/Diagnostics Mode, a mode on a 

component that allows various tests to 

be performed on the Class II gaming 

system hardware and software. 

Testing Laboratory, an organization 

recognized by a tribal gaming regulatory 

authority pursuant to § 547.4(f). 

Tribal Gaming Regulatory Authority, 

the entity authorized by tribal law to 

regulate gaming conducted pursuant to 

the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. 

Voucher, a financial instrument of 

fixed wagering value, usually paper, 

that can only be used to acquire an 

equivalent value of cashable credits or 

cash through interaction with a voucher 

system. 

Voucher System, a component of the 

Class II gaming system or an external 

system that securely maintains records 

of vouchers and coupons; validates 


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payment of vouchers; records successful 

or failed payments of vouchers and 

coupons; and controls the purging of 

expired vouchers and coupons. 

§ 547.4 How do I comply with this part? 

(a) Limited immediate compliance. By 

120 days after the effective date of this 

part, a tribal gaming regulatory authority 

shall: 

(1) Require that all Class II gaming 

system software that affects the play of 

the Class II game be submitted, together 

with the signature verification required 

by § 547.8(f), to a testing laboratory 

recognized pursuant to paragraph (f) of 

this section; 

(2) Require that the testing laboratory 

test the submission to the standards 

established by § 547.8(b), § 547.14, the 

minimum probability standards of 

§ 547.5(c), and to any additional 

standards adopted by the tribal gaming 

regulatory authority; 

(3) Require that the testing laboratory 

provide the tribal gaming regulatory 

authority with a formal written report 

setting forth and certifying to the 

findings and conclusions of the test; 

(4) Make a finding, in the form of a 

certificate provided to the supplier, that 

the Class II gaming system qualifies for 

grandfather status under the provisions 

of this section, but only upon receipt of 

a testing laboratory’s report that the 

Class II gaming system is compliant 

with § 547.8(b), § 547.8(f), the minimum 

probability standards of § 547.5(c), 

§ 547.14, and any other standards 

adopted by the tribal gaming regulatory 

authority. If the tribal gaming regulatory 

authority does not issue the certificate, 

or if the testing laboratory finds that the 

Class II gaming system is not compliant 

with § 547.8(b), § 547.8(f), the minimum 

probability standards of § 547.5(c), 

§ 547.14, or any other standards adopted 

by the tribal gaming regulatory 

authority, then the gaming system shall 

immediately be removed from play and 

not be utilized. 

(5) Retain a copy of any testing 

laboratory’s report so long as the Class 

II gaming system that is the subject of 

the report remains available to the 

public for play; 

(6) Retain a copy of any certificate of 

grandfather status so long as the Class 

II gaming system that is the subject of 

the certificate remains available to the 

public for play; and 

(7) Require the supplier of any player 

interface to designate with a 

permanently affixed label each player 

interface with an identifying number 

and the date of manufacture or a 

statement that the date of manufacture 

was on or before the effective date of 

this part. The tribal gaming regulatory 

authority shall also require the supplier 

to provide a written declaration or 

affidavit affirming that the date of 

manufacture was on or before the 

effective date of this part. 

(b) Grandfather provisions. All Class 

II gaming systems manufactured or 

placed in a tribal facility on or before 

the effective date of this part and 

certified pursuant to paragraph (a) of 

this section are grandfathered Class II 

gaming systems for which the following 

provisions apply: 

(1) Grandfathered Class II gaming 

systems may continue in operation for 

a period of five years from the effective 

date of this part. 

(2) Subject to the limitations in any 

applicable Commission regulations 

governing the classification of games, 

any grandfathered Class II gaming 

system shall be available for use at any 

tribal gaming facility subject to approval 

by the tribal gaming regulatory authority 

which shall transmit its notice of that 

approval, identifying the grandfathered 

components, to the NIGC. 

(3) As permitted by the tribal gaming 

regulatory authority, individual 

hardware or software components may 

be repaired or replaced to ensure proper 

functioning, security, or integrity of the 

grandfathered Class II gaming system. 

(4) All modifications that affect the 

play of a grandfathered Class II gaming 

system must be approved pursuant to 

paragraph (c) of this section, except for 

the following: 

(i) Any software modifications that 

the tribal gaming regulatory authority 

finds will maintain or advance the 

system’s overall compliance with this 

part or applicable provisions of 

Commission regulations governing 

minimum internal control standards, 

after receiving a new testing laboratory 

report that the modifications are 

compliant with the standards 

established by § 547.8(b), the minimum 

probability requirements of § 547.5(c), 

§ 547.14, and any other standards 

adopted by the tribal gaming regulatory 

authority; 

(ii) Any hardware modifications that 

the tribal gaming regulatory authority 

finds will maintain or advance the 

system’s overall compliance with this 

part or applicable provisions of 

Commission regulations governing 

minimum internal control standards; 

and 

(iii) Any other modification to the 

software of a grandfathered Class II 

gaming system that the tribal gaming 

regulatory authority finds will not 

detract from, compromise or prejudice: 

(A) The proper functioning, security, 

or integrity of the Class II gaming 

system, and 

(B) The gaming system’s overall 

compliance with the requirements of 

this part or applicable provisions of 

Commission regulations governing 

minimum internal control standards. 

(iv) No such modification may be 

implemented without the approval of 

the tribal gaming regulatory authority. 

The tribal gaming regulatory authority 

shall maintain a record of the 

modification so long as the Class II 

gaming system that is the subject of the 

modification remains available to the 

public for play and shall make the 

record available to the Commission 

upon request. The Commission will 

only make available for public review 

records or portions of records subject to 

release under the Freedom of 

Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552; the 

Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a; or 

the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, 25 

U.S.C. 2716(a). 

(c) Submission, testing, and 

approval—generally. Except as provided 

in paragraphs (b) and (d) of this section, 

no tribal gaming regulatory authority 

shall permit in a tribal gaming operation 

the use of any Class II gaming system, 

or any associated cashless system or 

voucher system or any modification 

thereto, unless: 

(1) The Class II gaming system, 

cashless system, voucher payment 

system, or modification has been 

submitted to a testing laboratory; 

(2) The testing laboratory tests the 

submission to the standards established 

by: 

(i) This part; 

(ii) Applicable provisions of 

Commission regulations governing the 

classification of games and minimum 

internal controls; and 

(iii) The tribal gaming regulatory 

authority; and the testing laboratory 

provides a formal written report to the 

party making the submission, setting 

forth and certifying to its findings and 

conclusions; and 

(3) Following receipt of the testing 

laboratory’s report, the tribal gaming 

regulatory authority makes a finding 

that the Class II gaming system, cashless 

system, or voucher system conforms to 

the standards established by: 

(i) This part; 

(ii) Applicable provisions of 

Commission regulations governing the 

classification of games and minimum 

internal controls; and 

(iii) The tribal gaming regulatory 

authority. 

The tribal gaming regulatory authority 

shall retain a copy of the testing 

laboratory’s report so long as the Class 

II gaming system, cashless system, 

voucher system, or modification thereto 

that is the subject of the report remains 


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available to the public for play in its 

gaming operation. 

(d) Emergency hardware and software 

changes. (1) A tribal gaming regulatory 

authority, in its discretion, may permit 

modified hardware or game software to 

be made available for play without prior 

laboratory review if the modified 

hardware or game software is: 

(i) Necessary to correct a problem 

affecting the fairness, security, or 

integrity of a game or accounting system 

or any cashless system, or voucher 

system; or 

(ii) Unrelated to game play, an 

accounting system, a cashless system, or 

a voucher system. 

(2) If a tribal gaming regulatory 

authority authorizes modified game 

software or hardware to be made 

available for play or use without prior 

laboratory review, the tribal gaming 

regulatory authority shall thereafter 

require the hardware or software 

manufacturer to: 

(i) Immediately advise other users of 

the same hardware or software of the 

importance and availability of the 

update; 

(ii) Immediately submit the new 

hardware or software to a testing 

laboratory for testing and verification of 

compliance with this part and any 

applicable provisions of Commission 

regulations governing minimum internal 

control standards; and 

(iii) Immediately provide the tribal 

gaming regulatory authority with a 

software signature verification tool 

meeting the requirements of § 547.8(f) 

for any new software. 

(3) If a tribal gaming regulatory 

authority authorizes software or 

hardware modification under this 

paragraph, it shall maintain a record of 

the modification and a copy of the 

testing laboratory report so long as the 

Class II gaming system that is the 

subject of the modification remains 

available to the public for play and shall 

make the record available to the 

Commission upon request. The 

Commission will only make available 

for public review records or portions of 

records subject to release under the 

Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 

552; the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 

552a; or the Indian Gaming Regulatory 

Act, 25 U.S.C. 2716(a). 

(e) Compliance by charitable gaming 

operations. This part shall not apply to 

charitable gaming operations, provided 

that: 

(1) The tribal government determines 

that the organization sponsoring the 

gaming operation is a charitable 

organization; 

(2) All proceeds of the charitable 

gaming operation are for the benefit of 

the charitable organization; 

(3) The tribal gaming regulatory 

authority permits the charitable 

organization to be exempt from this 

part; 

(4) The charitable gaming operation is 

operated wholly by the charitable 

organization’s employees or volunteers; 

and 

(5) The annual gross gaming revenue 

of the charitable gaming operation does 

not exceed $1,000,000. 

(f) Testing laboratories. (1) A testing 

laboratory may provide the 

examination, testing, evaluating and 

reporting functions required by this 

section provided that: 

(i) The testing laboratory 

demonstrates its integrity, 

independence and financial stability to 

the tribal gaming regulatory authority. 

(ii) The testing laboratory 

demonstrates its technical skill and 

capability to the tribal gaming 

regulatory authority. 

(iii) The testing laboratory is not 

owned or operated by the tribe or tribal 

gaming regulatory authority. 

(iv) The tribal gaming regulatory 

authority: 

(A) Makes a suitability determination 

of the testing laboratories no less 

stringent than that required by 

§ 533.6(b)(1)(ii) through (v) and 533.6(c) 

of this chapter and based upon no less 

information than that required by 

§ 537.1 of this chapter, or 

(B) Accepts, in its discretion, a 

determination of suitability for the 

testing laboratory made by any other 

gaming regulatory jurisdiction in the 

United States. 

(v) After reviewing the suitability 

determination and the information 

provided by the testing laboratory, the 

tribal gaming regulatory authority 

determines that the testing laboratory is 

qualified to test and evaluate Class II 

gaming systems. 

(2) The tribal gaming regulatory 

authority shall: 

(i) Maintain a record of all 

determinations made pursuant to 

paragraphs (f)(1)(iv) and (f)(1)(v) of this 

section for a minimum of three years 

and shall make the records available to 

the Commission upon request. The 

Commission will only make available 

for public review records or portions of 

records subject to release under the 

Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 

552; the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 

552a; or the Indian Gaming Regulatory 

Act, 25 U.S.C. 2716(a). 

(ii) Place the testing laboratory under 

a continuing obligation to notify it of 

any adverse regulatory action in any 

jurisdiction where the testing laboratory 

conducts business. 

(iii) Require the testing laboratory to 

provide notice of any material changes 

to the information provided to the tribal 

gaming regulatory authority. 

§ 547.5 What are the rules of interpretation 

and of general application for this part? 

(a) Minimum standards. A tribal 

gaming regulatory authority may 

establish and implement additional 

technical standards that are as stringent 

as, or more stringent than, those set out 

in this part. 

(b) Only applicable standards apply. 

Gaming equipment and software used 

with Class II gaming systems shall meet 

all applicable requirements of this part 

and applicable requirements of 

Commission regulations governing the 

classification of games and minimum 

internal controls. For example, if a Class 

II gaming system lacks the ability to 

print or accept vouchers, then any 

standards that govern vouchers do not 

apply. 

(c) Fairness. No Class II gaming 

system shall cheat, mislead, or 

disadvantage users. All prizes 

advertised shall be available to win. No 

progressive prize shall have a 

probability of winning of less than 1 in 

50,000,000. No other prize shall have a 

probability of winning of less than 1 in 

25,000,000. 

(d) Approved equipment and software 

only. All gaming equipment and 

software used with Class II gaming 

systems shall be identical in all respects 

to a prototype reviewed and tested by a 

testing laboratory and approved for use 

by the tribal gaming regulatory authority 

pursuant to § 547.4(a) through (c). 

Unapproved software shall not be 

loaded onto or stored on any program 

storage medium used in a Class II 

gaming system, except as provided in 

§ 547.4(d). 

(e) Proper functioning. All gaming 

equipment and software used with Class 

II gaming systems shall perform 

according to the manufacturer’s design 

and operating specifications. 

(f) No Limitation of Technology. This 

part should not be interpreted to limit 

the use of technology or to preclude the 

use of technology not specifically 

referenced. 

(g) Severability. If any provision of 

this part is declared invalid by a court 

of competent jurisdiction, such decision 

shall not affect the remainder of this 

part. 


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§ 547.6 What are the minimum technical 

standards for enrolling and enabling Class 

II gaming system components? 

(a) General requirements. Class II 

gaming systems shall provide a method 

to: 

(1) Enroll and unenroll system 

components; 

(2) Enable and disable specific system 

components. 

(b) Specific requirements. Class II 

gaming systems shall: 

(1) Ensure that only enrolled and 

enabled system components participate 

in gaming; and 

(2) Ensure that the default condition 

for components shall be unenrolled and 

disabled. 

§ 547.7 What are the minimum technical 

hardware standards applicable to Class II 

gaming systems? 

(a) General requirements. (1) The 

Class II gaming system shall operate in 

compliance with applicable regulations 

of the Federal Communications 

Commission. 

(2) Prior to approval by the tribal 

gaming regulatory authority pursuant to 

§ 547.4(d), the Class II gaming system 

shall have obtained from Underwriters’

Laboratories, or its equivalent, relevant 

certification(s) required for equipment 

of its type, including but not limited to 

certifications for liquid spills, 

electromagnetic interference, etc. 

(b) Printed circuit boards. (1) Printed 

circuit boards that have the potential to 

affect the outcome or integrity of the 

game, and are specially manufactured or 

proprietary and not off-the-shelf, shall 

display a unique identifier such as a 

part number and/or revision number, 

which shall be updated to reflect new 

revisions or modifications of the board. 

(2) Switches or jumpers on all circuit 

boards that have the potential to affect 

the outcome or integrity of any game, 

progressive award, financial instrument, 

cashless transaction, voucher 

transaction, or accounting records shall 

be capable of being sealed. 

(c) Electrostatic discharge. Class II 

gaming system components accessible 

to the public shall be constructed so that 

they exhibit immunity to human body 

electrostatic discharges on areas 

exposed to contact. Static discharges of 

±15 kV for air discharges and ±7.5 kV for 

contact discharges may not cause 

damage, or inhibit operation or integrity 

of the Class II gaming system. 

(d) Physical enclosures. Physical 

enclosures shall be of a robust 

construction designed to resist 

determined illegal entry. All 

protuberances and attachments such as 

buttons, identification plates, and labels 

shall be sufficiently robust to avoid 

unauthorized removal. 

(e) Player interface. The player 

interface shall include a method or 

means to: 

(1) Display information to a player; 

and 

(2) Allow the player to interact with 

the Class II gaming system. 

(f) Account access components. A 

Class II gaming system component that 

reads account access media shall be 

located within a secure, locked or 

tamper-evident area or in a cabinet or 

housing which is of a robust 

construction designed to resist 

determined illegal entry and to protect 

internal components. In addition, the 

account access component: 

(1) Shall be constructed so that 

physical tampering leaves evidence of 

such tampering; and 

(2) Shall provide a method to enable 

the Class II gaming system to interpret 

and act upon valid or invalid input or 

error condition. 

(g) Financial instrument storage 

components. Any Class II gaming 

system components that store financial 

instruments and that are not operated 

under the direct control of a gaming 

operation employee or agent shall be 

located within a secure and locked area 

or in a locked cabinet or housing which 

is of a robust construction designed to 

resist determined illegal entry and to 

protect internal components. 

(h) Financial instrument acceptors. (1) 

Any Class II gaming system components 

that handle financial instruments and 

that are not operated under the direct 

control of an agent shall: 

(i) Be located within a secure, locked 

and tamper-evident area or in a locked 

cabinet or housing which is of a robust 

construction designed to resist 

determined illegal entry and to protect 

internal components; 

(ii) Be able to detect the entry of valid 

or invalid financial instruments and to 

provide a method to enable the Class II 

gaming system to interpret and act upon 

valid or invalid input or error condition; 

and 

(iii) Be constructed to permit 

communication with the Class II gaming 

system of the accounting information 

required by § 547.9(a) and by applicable 

provisions of any Commission and tribal 

gaming regulatory regulations governing 

minimum internal control standards. 

(2) Prior to completion of a valid 

financial instrument transaction by the 

Class II gaming system, no monetary 

amount related to that instrument shall 

be available for play. For example, 

credits shall not be available for play 

until currency or coupon inserted into 

an acceptor is secured in the storage 

component. 

(3) The monetary amount related to 

all valid financial instrument 

transactions by the Class II gaming 

system shall be recorded as required by 

§ 547.9(a) and the applicable provisions 

of any Commission and tribal gaming 

regulatory authority regulations 

governing minimum internal control 

standards. 

(i) Financial instrument dispensers. 

(1) Any Class II gaming system 

components that dispense financial 

instruments and that are not designed to 

be operated under the direct control of 

a gaming operation employee or agent 

shall: 

(i) Be located within a secure, locked 

and tamper-evident area or in a locked 

cabinet or housing which is of a robust 

construction designed to resist 

determined illegal entry and to protect 

internal components; 

(ii) Provide a method to enable the 

Class II gaming system to interpret and 

act upon valid or invalid input or error 

condition; and 

(iii) Be constructed to permit 

communication with the Class II gaming 

system of the accounting information 

required by § 547.9(a) and by applicable 

provisions of any Commission and tribal 

gaming regulatory regulations governing 

minimum internal control standards. 

(2) The monetary amount related to 

all valid financial instrument 

transactions by the Class II gaming 

system shall be recorded as required by 

§ 547.9(a) and the applicable provisions 

of any Commission and tribal gaming 

regulatory authority regulations 

governing minimum internal control 

standards. 

(j) Game Outcome Determination 

Components. Any Class II gaming 

system logic components that affect the 

game outcome and that are not designed 

to be operated under the direct control 

of a gaming operation employee or agent 

shall be located within a secure, locked 

and tamper-evident area or in a locked 

cabinet or housing which is of a robust 

construction designed to resist 

determined illegal entry and to protect 

internal components. DIP switches or 

jumpers that can affect the integrity of 

the Class II gaming system must be 

capable of being sealed by the tribal 

gaming regulatory authority. 

(k) Door access detection. All 

components of the Class II gaming 

system that are locked in order to meet 

the requirements of this part shall 

include a sensor or other methods to 

monitor an open door. In addition: 

(1) A door open sensor, and its 

components or cables, shall be secure 

against attempts to disable them or 

interfere with their normal mode of 

operation; and 


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(2) It shall not be possible to disable 

a door open sensor, or access 

components within, without first 

properly opening the door. 

(l) Separation of functions/no 

limitations on technology. Nothing 

herein shall prohibit the account access 

component, financial instrument storage 

component, financial instrument 

acceptor, and financial instrument 

dispenser from being included within 

the same component, or separated into 

individual components. 

§ 547.8 What are the minimum technical 

software standards applicable to Class II 

gaming systems? 

This section provides general software 

standards for Class II gaming systems for 

the play of Class II games. 

(a) Player interface displays. (1) If not 

otherwise provided to the player, the 

player interface shall display the 

following: 

(i) The purchase or wager amount; 

(ii) Game results; and 

(iii) Any player credit balance. 

(2) Between plays of any game and 

until the start of the next play, or until 

the player selects a new game option 

such as purchase or wager amount or 

card selection, whichever is earlier, if 

not otherwise provided to the player, 

the player interface shall display: 

(i) The total purchase or wager 

amount and all prizes and total credits 

won for the last game played; 

(ii) The final results for the last game 

played, including alternate displays of 

results, if any; and 

(iii) Any default purchase or wager 

amount for the next play. 

(b) Game initiation and play. (1) Each 

game played on the Class II gaming 

system shall follow and not deviate 

from a constant set of rules for each 

game provided to players pursuant to 

§ 547.16. Any change in rules 

constitutes a different game. There shall 

be no automatic or undisclosed changes 

of rules. 

(2) For bingo games and games similar 

to bingo, the Class II gaming system 

shall not alter or allow to be altered the 

card permutations or game rules used 

for play of a Class II game unless 

specifically chosen by the player prior 

to commitment to participate in the 

game. No duplicate cards shall be sold 

for any common draw. 

(3) No game play shall commence 

and, no financial instrument or credit 

shall be accepted on the affected player 

interface, in the presence of any fault 

condition that affects the outcome of the 

game, open door, or while in test, audit, 

or lock-up mode. 

(4) The player must choose to 

participate in the play of a game. 

(c) Audit Mode. (1) If an audit mode 

is provided, the Class II gaming system 

shall provide, for those components 

actively involved in the audit: 

(i) All accounting functions required 

by § 547.9, by applicable provisions of 

any Commission regulations governing 

minimum internal control standards, 

and by any internal controls adopted by 

the tribe or tribal gaming regulatory 

authority; 

(ii) Display player interface 

identification; and 

(iii) Display software version or game 

identification; 

(2) Audit mode shall be accessible by 

a secure method. 

(3) Accounting function data shall be 

accessible by an authorized person at 

any time, except during a payout, 

during a handpay, or during play. 

(4) The Class II gaming system shall 

disable credit acceptance on the affected 

player interface while in audit mode, 

except during credit acceptance testing. 

(d) Last game recall. The last game 

recall function shall: 

(1) Be retrievable at all times, other 

than when the recall component is 

involved in the play of a game, upon the 

operation of an external key-switch, 

entry of an audit card, or a similar 

method; 

(2) Display the results of recalled 

games as originally displayed or in text 

representation, including alternate 

display results implemented in video, 

rather than electro-mechanical, form, if 

any, so as to enable the tribal gaming 

regulatory authority or operator to 

clearly identify the game sequences and 

results that occurred; 

(3) Allow the Class II gaming system 

component providing game recall, upon 

return to normal game play mode, to 

restore any affected display to the 

positions, forms and values displayed 

before access to the game recall 

information; and 

(4) Provide the following information 

for the current and previous four games 

played and shall display: 

(i) Game start time, end time, and 

date; 

(ii) The total number of credits at the 

start of play, less the purchase or wager 

amount; 

(iii) The purchase or wager amount; 

(iv) The total number of credits at the 

end of play; and 

(v) The total number of credits won as 

a result of the game recalled, and the 

value in dollars and cents for 

progressive prizes, if different. 

(vi) For bingo games and games 

similar to bingo only, also display: 

(A) The card(s) used by the player; 

(B) The identifier of the bingo game 

played; 

(C) The numbers or other designations 

drawn, in the order that they were 

drawn; 

(D) The numbers or other designations 

and prize patterns covered on each card; 

(E) All prizes won by the player, 

including winning patterns and 

alternate displays implemented in 

video, rather than electro-mechanical 

form, if any; and 

(F) The unique identifier of the card 

on which prizes were won; 

(vii) For pull-tab games only, also 

display: 

(A) The result(s) of each pull-tab, 

displayed in the same pattern as on the 

tangible pull-tab; 

(B) All prizes won by the player; 

(C) The unique identifier of each pull 

tab; and 

(D) Any other information necessary 

to fully reconstruct the current and four 

previous plays. 

(e) Voucher and credit transfer recall. 

Notwithstanding the requirements of 

any other section in this part, a Class II 

gaming system shall have the capacity 

to: 

(1) Display the information specified 

in § 547.11(b)(5)(ii) through (vi) for the 

last five vouchers or coupons printed 

and the last five vouchers or coupons 

accepted; and 

(2) Display a complete transaction 

history for the last five cashless 

transactions made and the last five 

cashless transactions accepted. 

(f) Software signature verification. 

The manufacturer or developer of the 

Class II gaming system must provide to 

the testing laboratory and to the tribal 

gaming regulatory authority an industrystandard methodology, acceptable to the 

tribal gaming regulatory authority, for 

verifying the Class II gaming system 

game software. By way of illustration, 

for game software stored on rewritable 

media, such methodologies include 

signature algorithms and hashing 

formulas such as SHA–1. 

(g) Test, diagnostic, and 

demonstration modes. If test, diagnostic, 

and/or demonstration modes are 

provided, the Class II gaming system 

shall, for those components actively 

involved in the test, diagnostic, or 

demonstration mode: 

(1) Clearly indicate when that 

component is in the test, diagnostic, or 

demonstration mode; 

(2) Not alter financial data on that 

component other than temporary data; 

(3) Only be available after entering a 

specific mode; 

(4) Disable credit acceptance and 

payment unless credit acceptance or 

payment is being tested; and 

(5) Terminate all mode-specific 

functions upon exiting a mode. 


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(h) Multi-game. If multiple games are 

offered for player selection at the player 

interface, the player interface shall: 

(1) Provide a display of available 

games; 

(2) Provide the means of selecting 

among them; 

(3) Display the full amount of the 

player’s credit balance; 

(4) Identify the game selected or being 

played; and 

(5) Not force the play of a game after 

its selection. 

(i) Program interruption and 

resumption. The Class II gaming system 

software shall be designed so that upon 

resumption following any interruption, 

the system: 

(1) Is able to return to a known state; 

(2) Shall check for any fault condition 

upon resumption; 

(3) Shall verify the integrity of data 

stored in critical memory; 

(4) Shall return the purchase or wager 

amount to the player in accordance with 

the rules of the game; and 

(5) Shall detect any change or 

corruption in the Class II gaming system 

software. 

(j) Class II gaming system components 

acting as progressive controllers. This 

paragraph applies to progressive 

controllers and components acting as 

progressive controllers in Class II 

gaming systems. 

(1) Modification of progressive 

parameters shall be conducted in a 

secure manner approved by the tribal 

gaming regulatory authority. Such 

parameters may include: 

(i) Increment value; 

(ii) Secondary pool increment(s); 

(iii) Reset amount(s); 

(iv) Maximum value(s); and 

(v) Identity of participating player 

interfaces. 

(2) The Class II gaming system 

component or other progressive 

controller shall provide a means of 

creating a progressive balancing report 

for each progressive link it controls. At 

a minimum, that report shall provide 

balancing of the changes of the 

progressive amount, including 

progressive prizes won, for all 

participating player interfaces versus 

current progressive amount(s), plus 

progressive prizes. In addition, the 

report shall account for, and not be 

made inaccurate by, unusual events 

such as: 

(i) Class II gaming system critical 

memory clears; 

(ii) Modification, alteration, or 

deletion of progressive prizes; 

(iii) Offline equipment; or 

(iv) Multiple site progressive prizes. 

(k) Critical memory. (1) Critical 

memory may be located anywhere 

within the Class II gaming system. 

Critical memory is any memory that 

maintains any of the following data: 

(i) Accounting data; 

(ii) Current credits; 

(iii) Configuration data; 

(iv) Last game recall information 

required by § 547.8(d); 

(v) Game recall information for the 

current game, if incomplete; 

(vi) Software state (the last normal 

state software was in before 

interruption); 

(vii) RNG seed(s), if necessary for 

maintaining integrity; 

(viii) Encryption keys, if necessary for 

maintaining integrity; 

(ix) Progressive prize parameters and 

current values; 

(x) The five most recent financial 

instruments accepted by type, excluding 

coins and tokens; 

(xi) The five most recent financial 

instruments dispensed by type, 

excluding coins and tokens; and 

(xii) The five most recent cashless 

transactions paid and the five most 

recent cashless transactions accepted. 

(2) Critical memory shall be 

maintained using a methodology that 

enables errors to be identified and acted 

upon. All accounting and recall 

functions shall be verified as necessary 

to ensure their ongoing integrity. 

(3) The validity of affected data stored 

in critical memory shall be checked 

after each of the following events: 

(i) Every restart; 

(ii) Each attendant paid win; 

(iii) Each attendant paid progressive 

win; 

(iv) Each sensored door closure; and 

(v) Every reconfiguration, download, 

or change of prize schedule or 

denomination requiring operator 

intervention or action. 

(l) Secured access. Class II gaming 

systems that use a logon or other means 

of secured access shall include a user 

account lockout after a predetermined 

number of consecutive failed attempts 

to access system. 

§ 547.9 What are the minimum technical 

standards for Class II gaming system 

accounting functions? 

This section provides standards for 

accounting functions used in Class II 

gaming systems. 

(a) Required accounting data. The 

following minimum accounting data, 

however named, shall be maintained by 

the Class II gaming system. 

Title Description 

(1) Amount In ............ The total value of all financial instruments and cashless transactions accepted by the Class II gaming system. Each type 

of financial instrument accepted by the Class II gaming system shall be tracked independently, and as required by applicable requirements of any Commission and tribal gaming regulatory authority regulations governing minimum internal control standards. 

(2) Amount Out .......... The total value of all financial instruments and cashless transactions paid by the Class II gaming system, plus the total 

value of attendant pay. Each type of financial instrument paid by the Class II Gaming System shall be tracked independently, and as required by applicable requirements of any Commission and tribal gaming regulatory authority regulations governing minimum internal control standards. 

(b) Accounting data storage. If the 

Class II gaming system electronically 

maintains accounting data: 

(1) Accounting data shall be stored 

with at least eight decimal digits. 

(2) Credit balances shall have 

sufficient digits to accommodate the 

design of the game. 

(3) Accounting data displayed to the 

player may be incremented or 

decremented using visual effects, but 

the internal storage of this data shall be 

immediately updated in full. 

(4) Accounting data shall be updated 

upon the occurrence of the relevant 

accounting event. 

(5) Modifications to accounting data 

shall be recorded, including the identity 

of the person(s) making the 

modifications, and be reportable by the 

Class II gaming system. 

(c) Rollover. Accounting data that 

rolls over to zero shall not corrupt data. 

(d) Credit balance display and 

function. (1) Any credit balance 

maintained at the player interface shall 

be prominently displayed at all times 

except: 

(i) In audit, configuration, recall and 

test modes; or 

(ii) Temporarily, during alternate 

displays of game results. 

(2) Progressive prizes may be added to 

the player’s credit balance provided: 


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(i) The player credit balance is 

maintained in dollars and cents; 

(ii) The progressive accounting data is 

incremented in number of credits; or 

(iii) The prize in dollars and cents is 

converted to player credits or 

transferred to the player’s credit balance 

in a manner that does not mislead the 

player or cause accounting imbalances. 

(3) If the player credit balance 

displays in credits, but the actual 

balance includes fractional credits, the 

Class II gaming system shall display the 

fractional credit when the player credit 

balance drops below one credit. 

§ 547.10 What are the minimum standards 

for Class II gaming system critical events? 

This section provides standards for 

events such as system critical faults, 

deactivation, door open or other 

changes of states, and lockup within the 

Class II gaming system. 

(a) Fault events. (1) The following 

events are to be treated as described 

below: 

Events Definition and action to be taken 

(i) Component fault ......................... Reported when a fault on a component is detected. When possible, this event message should indicate 

what the nature of the fault is. 

(ii) Financial storage component full Reported when a financial instrument acceptor or dispenser includes storage, and it becomes full. This 

event message should indicate what financial storage component is full. 

(iii) Financial output component 

empty.

Reported when a financial instrument dispenser is empty. The event message should indicate which financial output component is affected, and whether it is empty. 

(iv) Financial component fault ......... Reported when an occurrence on a financial component results in a known fault state. 

(v) Critical memory error ................. Some critical memory error has occurred. When a non-correctable critical memory error has occurred, the 

data on the Class II gaming system component can no longer be considered reliable. Accordingly, any 

game play on the affected component shall cease immediately, and an appropriate message shall be 

displayed, if possible. 

(vi) Progressive communication 

fault.

If applicable; when communications with a progressive controller component is in a known fault state. 

(vii) Program storage medium fault The software has failed its own internal security check or the medium itself has some fault. Any game play 

on the affected component shall cease immediately, and an appropriate message shall be displayed, if 

possible. 

(2) The occurrence of any event 

identified in paragraph (a)(1) of this 

section shall be recorded. 

(3) Upon clearing any event identified 

in paragraph (a)(1) of this section, the 

Class II gaming system shall: 

(i) Record that the fault condition has 

been cleared; 

(ii) Ensure the integrity of all related 

accounting data; and 

(iii) In the case of a malfunction, 

return a player’s purchase or wager 

according to the rules of the game. 

(b) Door open/close events. (1) In 

addition to the requirements of 

paragraph (a)(1) of this section, the Class 

II gaming system shall perform the 

following for any component affected by 

any sensored door open event: 

(i) Indicate that the state of a sensored 

door changes from closed to open or 

opened to closed; 

(ii) Disable all financial instrument 

acceptance, unless a test mode is 

entered; 

(iii) Disable game play on the affected 

player interface; 

(iv) Disable player inputs on the 

affected player interface, unless test 

mode is entered; and 

(v) Disable all financial instrument 

disbursement, unless a test mode is 

entered. 

(2) The Class II gaming system may 

return the component to a ready to play 

state when all sensored doors are 

closed. 

(c) Non-fault events. The following 

non-fault events are to be treated as 

described below, if applicable: 

Event Definition and action to be taken 

(1) Player interface power off during play.This condition is reported by the affected component(s) to indicate power has been lost during game play. 

(2) Player interface power on ......... This condition is reported by the affected component(s) to indicate it has been turned on. 

(3) Financial instrument storage 

component container/stacker removed.

This condition is reported when a financial instrument storage container has been removed. The event 

message should indicate which storage container was removed. 

§ 547.11 What are the minimum technical 

standards for money and credit handling? 

This section provides standards for 

money and credit handling by a Class II 

gaming system. 

(a) Credit acceptance, generally. (1) 

Upon any credit acceptance, the Class II 

gaming system shall register the correct 

number of credits on the player’s credit 

balance. 

(2) The Class II gaming system shall 

reject financial instruments deemed 

invalid. 

(b) Credit redemption, generally. (1) 

For cashable credits on a player 

interface, players shall be allowed to 

cash out and/or redeem those credits at 

the player interface except when that 

player interface is: 

(i) Involved in the play of a game; 

(ii) In audit mode, recall mode or any 

test mode; 

(iii) Detecting any sensored door open 

condition; 

(iv) Updating the player credit 

balance or total win accounting data; or 

(v) Displaying a fault condition that 

would prevent cash-out or credit 

redemption. In this case a fault 

indication shall be displayed. 

(2) For cashable credits not on a 

player interface, the player shall be 

allowed to cash out and/or redeem those 

credits at any time. 

(3) A Class II gaming system shall not 

automatically pay an award subject to 

mandatory tax reporting or withholding. 

(4) Credit redemption by voucher or 

coupon shall conform to the following: 

(i) A Class II gaming system may 

redeem credits by issuing a voucher or 

coupon when it communicates with a 

voucher system that validates the 

voucher or coupon. 


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(ii) A Class II gaming system that 

redeems credits by issuing vouchers and 

coupons shall either: 

(A) Maintain an electronic record of 

all information required by paragraphs 

(b)(5)(ii) through (vi) of this section; or 

(B) Generate two identical copies of 

each voucher or coupon issued, one to 

be provided to the player and the other 

to be retained within the machine for 

audit purposes. 

(5) Valid vouchers and coupons shall 

contain the following: 

(i) Gaming operation name and 

location; 

(ii) The identification number of the 

Class II gaming system component or 

the player interface number, as 

applicable; 

(iii) Date and time of issuance; 

(iv) Alpha and numeric dollar 

amount; 

(v) A sequence number; 

(vi) A validation number that: 

(A) Is produced by a means 

specifically designed to prevent 

repetition of validation numbers; and 

(B) Has some form of checkcode or 

other form of information redundancy to 

prevent prediction of subsequent 

validation numbers without knowledge 

of the checkcode algorithm and 

parameters; 

(vii) For machine-readable vouchers 

and coupons, a bar code or other form 

of machine readable representation of 

the validation number, which shall have 

enough redundancy and error checking 

to ensure that 99.9% of all misreads are 

flagged as errors; 

(viii) Transaction type or other 

method of differentiating voucher and 

coupon types; and 

(ix) Expiration period or date. 

(6) Transfers from an account may not 

exceed the balance of that account. 

(7) For Class II gaming systems not 

using dollars and cents accounting and 

not having odd cents accounting, the 

Class II gaming system shall reject any 

transfers from voucher payment systems 

or cashless systems that are not even 

multiples of the Class II gaming system 

denomination. 

(8) Voucher redemption systems shall 

include the ability to report 

redemptions per redemption location or 

user. 

§ 547.12 What are the minimum technical 

standards for downloading on a Class II 

gaming system? 

This section provides standards for 

downloading on a Class II gaming 

system. 

(a) Downloads. (1) Downloads are an 

acceptable means of transporting 

approved content, including but not 

limited to software, files, data, and prize 

schedules. 

(2) Downloads of software, games, 

prize schedules, or other download 

packages shall be conducted only as 

authorized by the tribal gaming 

regulatory authority. 

(3) Downloads shall use secure 

methodologies that will deliver the 

download data without alteration or 

modification, in accordance with 

§ 547.15(a). 

(4) Downloads conducted during 

operational periods shall be performed 

in a manner that will not affect game 

play. 

(5) Downloads shall not affect the 

integrity of accounting data. 

(6) The Class II gaming system or the 

tribal gaming regulatory authority shall 

log each download of any download 

package. Each log record shall contain 

as a minimum: 

(i) The time and date of the initiation 

of the download; 

(ii) The time and date of the 

completion of the download; 

(iii) The Class II gaming system 

components to which software was 

downloaded; 

(iv) The version(s) of download 

package and any software downloaded. 

Logging of the unique software signature 

will satisfy this requirement; 

(v) The outcome of any software 

verification following the download 

(success or failure); and 

(vi) The name and identification 

number, or other unique identifier, of 

any individual(s) conducting or 

scheduling a download. 

(b) Verifying downloads. Following 

download of any game software, the 

Class II gaming system shall verify the 

downloaded software using a software 

signature verification method that meets 

the requirements of § 547.8(f). The tribal 

gaming regulatory authority shall 

confirm the verification. 

§ 547.13 What are the minimum technical 

standards for program storage media? 

This section provides minimum 

standards for removable, (re-)writable, 

and non-writable storage media in Class 

II gaming systems. 

(a) Removable program storage media. 

All removable program storage media 

shall maintain an internal checksum or 

signature of its contents. Verification of 

this checksum or signature is to be 

performed after every restart. If the 

verification fails, the affected Class II 

gaming system component(s) shall lock 

up and enter a fault state. 

(b) Non-rewritable program storage 

media. (1) All EPROMs and 

Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs) that 

have erasure windows shall be fitted 

with covers over their erasure windows. 

(2) All unused areas of EPROMs shall 

be written with the inverse of the erased 

state (e.g., zero bits (00 hex) for most 

EPROMs), random data, or repeats of the 

program data. 

(3) Flash memory storage components 

intended to have the same logical 

function as ROM, i.e. not to be 

dynamically written, shall be writeprotected or otherwise protected from 

unauthorized modification. 

(4) The write cycle shall be closed or 

finished for all CD-ROMs such that it is 

not possible to write any further data to 

the CD. 

(5) Write protected hard disks are 

permitted if the means of enabling the 

write protect is easily viewable and can 

be sealed in place. 

(c) Writable and rewritable program 

storage media. (1) Writable and 

rewritable program storage, such as hard 

disk drives, Flash memory, writable CDROMs, and writable DVDs, may be used 

provided that the software stored 

thereon may be verified using the 

mechanism provided pursuant to 

§ 547.8(f). 

(2) Program storage shall be structured 

so there is a verifiable separation of 

fixed data (e.g. program, fixed 

parameters, DLLs) and variable data. 

(d) Identification of program storage 

media. (1) All program storage media 

that is not re-writable in circuit, (e.g. 

EPROM, CD–ROM) shall be uniquely 

identified, displaying: 

(i) Manufacturer; 

(ii) Program identifier; 

(iii) Program version number(s); and 

(iv) Location information, if critical 

(e.g. socket position 3 on the printed 

circuit board). 

§ 547.14 What are the minimum technical 

standards for electronic random number 

generation? 

This section provides minimum 

standards for electronic RNGs in Class 

II gaming systems. 

(a) Properties. (1) All RNGs shall 

produce output having the following 

properties: 

(i) Statistical randomness; 

(ii) Unpredictability; and 

(iii) Non-repeatability. 

(b) Statistical Randomness. (1) 

Numbers produced by an RNG shall be 

statistically random individually and in 

the permutations and combinations 

used in the application under the rules 

of the game. For example, if a bingo 

game with 75 objects with numbers or 

other designations has a progressive 

winning pattern of the five numbers or 

other designations on the bottom of the 

card and the winning of this prize is 

defined to be the five numbers or other 

designations are matched in the first 

five objects drawn, the likelihood of 

each of the 75C5 combinations are to be 

verified to be statistically equal. 


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(2) Numbers produced by an RNG 

shall pass the statistical tests for 

randomness to a 99% confidence level, 

which may include: 

(i) Chi-square test; 

(ii) Equi-distribution (frequency) test; 

(iii) Gap test; 

(iv) Poker test; 

(v) Coupon collector’s test; 

(vi) Permutation test; 

(vii) Run test (patterns of occurrences 

shall not be recurrent); 

(viii) Spectral test; 

(ix) Serial correlation test potency and 

degree of serial correlation (outcomes 

shall be independent from the previous 

game); and 

(x) Test on subsequences. 

(c) Unpredictability. (1) It shall not be 

feasible to predict future outputs of an 

RNG, even if the algorithm and the past 

sequence of outputs are known. 

(2) Unpredictability shall be ensured 

by re-seeding or by continuously cycling 

the RNG, and by providing a sufficient 

number of RNG states for the 

applications supported. 

(3) Re-seeding may be used where the 

re-seeding input is at least as 

statistically random as, and 

independent of, the output of the RNG 

being re-seeded. 

(d) Non-repeatability. The RNG shall 

not be initialized to reproduce the same 

output stream that it has produced 

before, nor shall any two instances of an 

RNG produce the same stream as each 

other. This property shall be ensured by 

initial seeding that comes from: 

(1) A source of ‘‘true’’ randomness, 

such as a hardware random noise 

generator; or 

(2) A combination of timestamps, 

parameters unique to a Class II gaming 

system, previous RNG outputs, or other, 

similar method. 

(e) General requirements. (1) Software 

that calls an RNG to derive game 

outcome events shall immediately use 

the output returned in accordance with 

the game rules. 

(2) The use of multiple RNGs is 

permitted as long as they operate in 

accordance with this section. 

(3) RNG outputs shall not be 

arbitrarily discarded or selected. 

(4) Where a sequence of outputs is 

required, the whole of the sequence in 

the order generated shall be used in 

accordance with the game rules. 

(5) The Class II gaming system shall 

neither adjust the RNG process or game 

outcomes based on the history of prizes 

obtained in previous games nor make 

any reflexive or secondary decision that 

affects the results shown to the player 

or game outcome. Nothing in this 

paragraph shall prohibit the use of 

alternative displays. 

(f) Scaling algorithms and scaled 

numbers. An RNG that provides output 

scaled to given ranges shall: 

(1) Be independent and uniform over 

the range; 

(2) Provide numbers scaled to the 

ranges required by game rules, and 

notwithstanding the requirements of 

paragraph (e)(3) of this section, may 

discard numbers that do not map 

uniformly onto the required range but 

shall use the first number in sequence 

which does map correctly to the range; 

(3) Be capable of producing every 

possible outcome of a game according to 

its rules; and 

(4) Use an unbiased algorithm. A 

scaling algorithm is considered to be 

unbiased if the measured bias is no 

greater than 1 in 100 million. 

§ 547.15 What are the minimum technical 

standards for electronic data 

communications between system 

components? 

This section provides minimum 

standards for electronic data 

communications with gaming 

equipment or components used with 

Class II gaming systems. 

(a) Sensitive data. Communication of 

sensitive data shall be secure from 

eavesdropping, access, tampering, 

intrusion or alteration unauthorized by 

the tribal gaming regulatory authority. 

Sensitive data shall include, but not be 

limited to: 

(1) RNG seeds and outcomes; 

(2) Encryption keys, where the 

implementation chosen requires 

transmission of keys; 

(3) PINs; 

(4) Passwords; 

(5) Financial instrument transactions; 

(6) Transfers of funds; 

(7) Player tracking information; 

(8) Download Packages; and 

(9) Any information that affects game 

outcome. 

(b) Wireless communications. (1) 

Wireless access points shall not be 

accessible to the general public. 

(2) Open or unsecured wireless 

communications are prohibited. 

(3) Wireless communications shall be 

secured using a methodology that makes 

eavesdropping, access, tampering, 

intrusion or alteration impractical. By 

way of illustration, such methodologies 

include encryption, frequency hopping, 

and code division multiplex access (as 

in cell phone technology). 

(c) Methodologies shall be used that 

will ensure the reliable transfer of data 

and provide a reasonable ability to 

detect and act upon any corruption of 

the data. 

(d) Class II gaming systems shall 

record detectable, unauthorized access 

or intrusion attempts. 

(e) Remote communications shall only 

be allowed if authorized by the tribal 

gaming regulatory authority. Class II 

gaming systems shall have the ability to 

enable or disable remote access, and the 

default state shall be set to disabled. 

(f) Failure of data communications 

shall not affect the integrity of critical 

memory. 

(g) The Class II gaming system shall 

log the establishment, loss, and reestablishment of data communications 

between sensitive Class II gaming 

system components. 

§ 547.16 What are the minimum standards 

for game artwork, glass, and rules? 

This section provides standards for 

the display of game artwork, the 

displays on belly or top glass, and the 

display and disclosure of game rules, 

whether in physical or electronic form. 

(a) Rules, instructions, and prize 

schedules, generally. The following 

shall at all times be displayed or made 

readily available to the player upon 

request: 

(1) Game name, rules, and options 

such as the purchase or wager amount 

stated clearly and unambiguously; 

(2) Denomination; 

(3) Instructions for play on, and use 

of, the player interface, including the 

functions of all buttons; and 

(4) A prize schedule or other 

explanation, sufficient to allow a player 

to determine the correctness of all prizes 

awarded, including; 

(i) The range and values obtainable for 

any variable prize; 

(ii) Whether the value of a prize 

depends on the purchase or wager 

amount; and 

(iii) The means of division of any 

pari-mutuel prizes; but 

(iv) For bingo and games similar to 

bingo, the prize schedule or other 

explanation need not state that subsets 

of winning patterns are not awarded as 

additional prizes (e.g. five in a row does 

not also pay three in a row or four in 

a row), unless there are exceptions, 

which shall be clearly stated. 

(b) Disclaimers. The Class II gaming 

system shall continually display: 

(1) ‘‘Malfunctions void all prizes and 

plays’’ or equivalent; and 

(2) ‘‘Actual Prizes Determined by 

Bingo [or other applicable Class II game] 

Play. Other Displays for Entertainment 

Only.’’ or equivalent. 

§ 547.17 How does a gaming operation 

apply for a variance from these standards? 

(a) Tribal Gaming Regulatory 

Authority approval. (1) A tribal gaming 

regulatory authority may approve a 

variance from the requirements of this 

part if it has determined that the 


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variance will achieve a level of security 

and integrity sufficient to accomplish 

the purpose of the standard it is to 

replace. 

(2) For each enumerated standard for 

which the tribal gaming regulatory 

authority approves a variance, it shall 

submit to the Chairman within 30 days, 

a detailed report, which shall include 

the following: 

(i) An explanation of how the 

variance achieves a level of security and 

integrity sufficient to accomplish the 

purpose of the standard it is to replace; 

and 

(ii) The variance as granted and the 

record on which it is based. 

(3) In the event that the tribal gaming 

regulatory authority or the tribe’s 

government chooses to submit a 

variance request directly to the 

Chairman for joint government to 

government review, the tribal gaming 

regulatory authority or tribal 

government may do so without the 

approval requirement set forth in 

paragraph (a) (1) of this section. 

(b) Chairman Review. (1) The 

Chairman may approve or object to a 

variance granted by a tribal gaming 

regulatory authority. 

(2) Any objection by the Chairman 

shall be in written form with an 

explanation why the variance as 

approved by the tribal gaming 

regulatory authority does not provide a 

level of security or integrity sufficient to 

accomplish the purpose of the standard 

it is to replace. 

(3) If the Chairman fails to approve or 

object in writing within 60 days after 

the date of receipt of a complete 

submission, the variance shall be 

considered approved by the Chairman. 

The Chairman and the tribal gaming 

regulatory authority may, by agreement, 

extend this deadline an additional 60 

days. 

(4) No variance may be implemented 

until approved by the tribal gaming 

regulatory authority pursuant to 

paragraph (a)(1) of this section or the 

Chairman has approved pursuant to 

paragraph (b)(1) of this section. 

(c) Commission Review. (1) Should 

the tribal gaming regulatory authority 

elect to maintain its approval after 

written objection by the Chairman, the 

tribal gaming regulatory authority shall 

be entitled to an appeal to the full 

Commission in accordance with the 

following process: 

(i) Within 60 days of receiving an 

objection, the tribal gaming regulatory 

authority shall file a written notice of 

appeal with the Commission which may 

include a request for an oral hearing or 

it may request that the matter be 

decided upon written submissions. 

(ii) Within 10 days after filing a notice 

of appeal the tribal gaming regulatory 

authority shall file a supplemental 

statement specifying the reasons why 

the tribal gaming regulatory authority 

believes the Chairman’s objection 

should be reviewed, and shall include 

supporting documentation, if any. 

(iii) Failure to file an appeal or submit 

the supplemental statement within the 

time provided by this section shall 

result in a waiver of the opportunity for 

an appeal. 

(iv) If an oral hearing is requested it 

shall take place within 30 days of the 

notice of appeal and a record shall be 

made. 

(v) If the tribal gaming regulatory 

authority requests that the appeal be 

decided on the basis of written 

submission, the Commission shall issue 

a written decision within 30 days of 

receiving the supplemental statement 

(vi) The Commission shall issue a 

decision within 30 days of the oral 

hearing. The Commission shall uphold 

the objection of the Chairman, only if, 

upon de novo review of the record upon 

which the Chairman’s decision is based, 

the Commission determines that the 

variance approved by the tribal gaming 

regulatory authority does not achieve a 

level of security and integrity sufficient 

to accomplish the purpose of the 

standard it is to replace. 

(vii) The Commission’s decision shall 

constitute final agency action. 

Dated: October 17, 2007. 

Philip N. Hogen, 

Chairman 

Cloyce V. Choney, 

Vice Chairman 

Norman H. DesRosiers 

Commissioner. 

[FR Doc. E7–20789 Filed 10–23–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7565–01–P 


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