I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 6352 
To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide a process 
to lock and suspend domain names used to facilitate the online sale 
of drugs illegally, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 30, 2021 
Mr. MCKINLEY (for himself and Mr. RUSH) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to 
provide a process to lock and suspend domain names 
used to facilitate the online sale of drugs illegally, 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 ‘‘Domain Reform for 
Unlawful Drug Sellers Act’’ or the ‘‘DRUGS Act’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
17:24 Dec 30, 2021
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6352.IH
H6352
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
SEC. 2. DOMAIN NAMES USED TO FACILITATE THE ONLINE 
SALE OF DRUGS ILLEGALLY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter V of the 
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 351 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 524B. DOMAIN NAMES USED TO FACILITATE THE ON-
LINE SALE OF DRUGS ILLEGALLY. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A registry operator or registrar 
shall— 
‘‘(1) not later than 24 hours after receipt of a 
notification from a trusted notifier respecting a do-
main name used to facilitate the online sale of drugs 
illegally that is under the control of the registry op-
erator or registrar, lock the domain name; and 
‘‘(2) not later than 7 days after receipt of such 
notification, suspend the domain name. 
‘‘(b) NOTICE.—For purposes of subsection (a), a no-
tification shall include, at a minimum— 
‘‘(1) the domain name being reported; 
‘‘(2) the date the alleged violations described in 
subsection (e)(2) were observed; 
‘‘(3) a summary of the alleged violations; and 
‘‘(4) a statement that evidence of offering drugs 
illegally, such as a screenshot, has been retained, 
and is available to be shared with the registry oper-
ator or registrar. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
17:24 Dec 30, 2021
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6352.IH
H6352
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
‘‘(c) REGISTRANT APPEAL.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any registrant whose do-
main name is locked and suspended pursuant to 
subsection (a) may appeal such action to the trusted 
notifier pursuant to paragraph (2). The domain 
name shall remain locked and suspended until a 
final determination of the merits of the appeal has 
been made. 
‘‘(2) APPEALS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In bringing such an 
appeal, the registrant for the locked and sus-
pended domain name may do any of the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(i) Contact the applicable registry 
operator or registrar to request informa-
tion regarding the business name, or per-
sonal name if the trusted notifier is not a 
business, and the email address, of the 
trusted notifier who submitted the notifica-
tion regarding the domain name. 
‘‘(ii) Dispute the notification by sub-
mitting the following to the applicable 
trusted notifier: 
‘‘(I) A copy of the registrant’s 
pharmacy licenses for all jurisdictions 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
17:24 Dec 30, 2021
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6352.IH
H6352
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
where it offered to ship prescription 
medicines at the time of the notifica-
tion where such licensure is legally re-
quired in such jurisdiction, or a copy 
of registrant’s affiliated pharmacy’s li-
censes for all jurisdictions where the 
registrant offered to facilitate the 
shipment of prescription medicines at 
the time of the notification where 
such licensure is legally required in 
such jurisdiction. 
‘‘(II) The license information of 
the medical practitioner involved in 
issuing the prescription facilitated in 
part by the registrant’s domain name 
where practitioner licensure is legally 
required in such jurisdiction. 
‘‘(B) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—With-
in 15 days after receiving a request under sub-
paragraph (A)(i), a registry operator or reg-
istrar shall provide the requested information. 
‘‘(C) 
INVESTIGATION.—The 
applicable 
trusted notifier shall— 
‘‘(i) conduct a reasonable investigation 
regarding the registrant and its domain 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
17:24 Dec 30, 2021
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6352.IH
H6352
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
name to determine whether notification 
under subsection (a) was improper; and 
‘‘(ii) in conducting such investigation, 
consider the information provided by the 
registrant under subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(D) SUCCESSFUL APPEAL.—If the appeal 
is successful, the registry operator or registrar 
shall lift the suspension and unlock the domain 
name within 15 days. 
‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
tion prohibits a registry operator or registrar from locking 
and suspending a domain name used to facilitate the on-
line sale of drugs illegally before receipt of a notification 
under this section from a trusted notifier. 
‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) DOMAIN NAME.—The term ‘domain name’ 
means a name that— 
‘‘(A) identifies a specific location on the 
internet that belongs to a particular person; 
and 
‘‘(B) consists of two or more textual seg-
ments separated by dots. 
‘‘(2) DOMAIN NAME USED TO FACILITATE THE 
ONLINE SALE OF DRUGS ILLEGALLY.—The term ‘do-
main name used to facilitate the online sale of drugs 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
17:24 Dec 30, 2021
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6352.IH
H6352
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
illegally’ means a domain name that identifies a lo-
cation on the internet the primary or a significant 
purpose of which is to introduce or deliver for intro-
duction into interstate commerce a drug or con-
trolled substance in violation of this Act or the Con-
trolled Substances Act. 
‘‘(3) LOCK.—The term ‘lock’ means, with re-
spect to a domain name, for the registry operator or 
registrar to systematically prevent the domain name 
from being updated, transferred, or deleted during 
the balance of the registration of the domain name, 
which may be achieved using domain name registra-
tion protocols. 
‘‘(4) PRESCRIPTION
DRUG.—The term ‘pre-
scription drug’ means a drug subject to section 
503(b)(1). 
‘‘(5) REGISTRAR.—The term ‘registrar’ means 
an organization that— 
‘‘(A) manages the registration of domain 
names; and 
‘‘(B) during the registration process— 
‘‘(i) verifies that the requested domain 
name meets registry requirements; and 
‘‘(ii) submits the name to the appro-
priate registry operator. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
17:24 Dec 30, 2021
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6352.IH
H6352
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
‘‘(6) REGISTRY.—The term ‘registry’ means an 
authoritative master database of the domain names 
registered in a top-level domain. 
‘‘(7) REGISTRY OPERATOR.—The term ‘registry 
operator’ means an organization that maintains a 
registry, including by— 
‘‘(A) receiving requests from registrars to 
add, delete, or modify domain names; and 
‘‘(B) making the requested changes in the 
registry. 
‘‘(8) SUSPEND.—The term ‘suspend’ means, 
with respect to a domain name, for the registry op-
erator or registrar to systematically disable the 
functionality of the domain name through a hold or 
suspension during the balance of the registration of 
the domain name, which may be achieved using do-
main name registration protocols. 
‘‘(9) TRUSTED NOTIFIER.—The term ‘trusted 
notifier’ includes the following (and the designees 
and agents thereof): 
‘‘(A) The Food and Drug Administration. 
‘‘(B) The Department of Justice, including 
the Drug Enforcement Administration. 
‘‘(C) The Department of Homeland Secu-
rity. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
17:24 Dec 30, 2021
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6352.IH
H6352
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
‘‘(D) A State attorney general. 
‘‘(E) A State board of pharmacy. 
‘‘(F) A nonprofit organization with a mem-
bership or governance comprised exclusively of 
representatives of— 
‘‘(i) agencies or officials specified in 
any of subparagraphs (A) through (E); or 
‘‘(ii) similarly positioned (as deter-
mined by the Commissioner of Food and 
Drugs) agencies or officials. 
‘‘(G) Any entity currently under contract 
or in a public-private partnership with the Food 
and Drug Administration or the Drug Enforce-
ment Agency to share information related to 
online drug sales. 
‘‘(H) Any other entity identified by the 
Food and Drug Administration as a trusted no-
tifier for purposes of this section, taking into 
consideration, at minimum, whether the enti-
ty— 
‘‘(i) is registered to do business in the 
United States; 
‘‘(ii) agrees to share notification data, 
upon request, with the Food and Drug Ad-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
17:24 Dec 30, 2021
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6352.IH
H6352
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
ministration and the Drug Enforcement 
Agency; 
‘‘(iii) does not knowingly or with will-
ful ignorance approve or do business with 
entities that fail to adhere to the regula-
tions of the Food and Drug Administration 
or the Drug Enforcement Agency; and 
‘‘(iv) has published on the website of 
such entity policies and procedures for how 
the entity will issue notifications under 
subsection (a).’’. 
(b) PROHIBITED ACT.—Section 301 of the Federal 
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 331) is amend-
ed by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(fff) The failure by a registry operator or registrar 
to lock and suspend any domain name in its control in 
violation of section 524B.’’. 
(c) APPLICABILITY.—Sections 301(fff) and 524B of 
the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as added by 
this section, shall apply beginning on the date that is 60 
days after the date of enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
17:24 Dec 30, 2021
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H6352.IH
H6352
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS