I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3608 
To amend the Controlled Substances Act to prohibit third-party Internet 
sales sites from posting offers to sell controlled substances, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 28, 2005 
Mr. SWEENEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on 
the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Controlled Substances Act to prohibit third- 
party Internet sales sites from posting offers to sell 
controlled substances, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Internet Drug Sales 
Accountability Act’’.
SEC. 2. SALES OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES THROUGH 
THIRD-PARTY INTERNET SALES SITES. 
The Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et 
seq.) is amended by inserting after section 423 the fol-
lowing section: 
‘‘SEC. 424. PROHIBITIONS REGARDING SALES OF CON-
TROLLED 
SUBSTANCES 
THROUGH 
THIRD- 
PARTY INTERNET SALES SITES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (d), it is 
unlawful for a person who controls a third-party Internet 
sales site— 
‘‘(1) to accept for posting on the site an offer 
to sell an item that the person knows is a controlled 
substance; or 
‘‘(2) to fail to promptly remove from the site an 
offer to sell an item when a Federal or State official 
notifies the person, in accordance with subsection 
(e), that the item is a controlled substance. 
‘‘(b) THIRD-PARTY INTERNET SALES SITE.—For 
purposes of this section, the term ‘third-party Internet 
sales site’ means an Internet site, operated as part of a 
business, that permits users of the site to post an offer 
to sell an item directly to a consumer. 
‘‘(c) ADVERTISING.—For purposes of this section, the 
term ‘offer’, with respect to the sale of an item, includes 
an advertisement for the sale of the item.
‘‘(d) EXCLUSION
REGARDING
LICENSED
PHAR-
MACIES.—Subsection (a) does not have any applicability 
with respect to the sale of controlled substances by a li-
censed pharmacy, including a licensed Internet pharmacy. 
‘‘(e) 
NOTICE
REGARDING
CONTROLLED
SUB-
STANCE.—A person who controls a third-party Internet 
sales site shall create a system for receipt of notice under 
subsection (a)(2) in accordance with this subsection if the 
notice is in writing and the notice— 
‘‘(1) specifies this section as the relevant statu-
tory authority; 
‘‘(2) specifies the name, title, physical address, 
and contact information of the Federal or State offi-
cial or officials who sent the notice; 
‘‘(3) specifies the third-party Internet site in-
volved; 
‘‘(4) specifies the offer with which the notice is 
concerned, including the controlled substance in-
volved; 
‘‘(5) specifies the location of the offer on the 
site through the uniform resource locator (commonly 
referred to as the URL) or through the Internet 
Protocol numbers that constitute the address of the 
location; and
‘‘(6) is provided to the designated agent of the 
third-party Internet sales site designated in accord-
ance with section 512 of title 17, United States 
Code, if the site has designated such an agent. 
‘‘(f) PENALTIES.— 
‘‘(1) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.— 
‘‘(A) FIRST CONVICTION.—A person who 
violates subsection (a) shall be fined under title 
18, United States Code, or imprisoned not more 
than one year, or both, subject to subparagraph 
(B). 
‘‘(B) SUBSEQUENT
CONVICTIONS.—If a 
person commits a violation of subsection (a) 
after a single prior conviction of the person 
under this paragraph, the person shall for such 
violation be fined under title 18, United States 
Code, or imprisoned not more than five years, 
or both. If a person commits a violation of such 
subsection after two or more prior convictions 
of the person under this paragraph, the person 
shall for such violation be fined under such title 
or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both. 
‘‘(2) CIVIL PENALTY.—A person who violates a 
requirement under subsection (e) is subject to a civil
penalty not exceeding $1,000,000 for each such vio-
lation. 
‘‘(g) PROTECTION FOR IDENTIFYING AND REMOVING 
ILLEGAL OFFERS.— 
‘‘(1) MONITORING AND REMOVAL OF OFFERS.— 
A third-party Internet sales site should monitor and 
remove in good faith any posting of an offer to sell 
an item that the third-party Internet sales site be-
lieves to violate Federal or State law, or that is the 
subject of a notice described in subsection (e). 
‘‘(2) 
PROTECTION
AGAINST
LIABILITY.—A 
third-party Internet sales site that in good faith 
monitors and removes any posting in accordance 
with paragraph (1) shall not be liable under any 
Federal or State law. 
‘‘(h) ADDITIONAL DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of 
this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘control’, with respect to an 
Internet site, means to have the legal right to exer-
cise control over all or substantially all of the con-
tent of the site, without regard to the extent to 
which such authority actually is exercised. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘Internet’ means collectively the 
myriad of computer and telecommunications facili-
ties, including equipment and operating software,