[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3754 Reported in House (RH)]
Union Calendar No. 310
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 3754
[Report No. 108-536]
To provide additional civil and criminal remedies for domain name
fraud.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 3, 2004
Mr. Smith of Texas (for himself and Mr. Berman) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
June 9, 2004
Additional sponsor: Mr. Sessions
June 9, 2004
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on
February 3, 2004]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide additional civil and criminal remedies for domain name
fraud.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Fraudulent Online Identity Sanctions
Act''.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO TRADEMARK ACT OF 1946.
Section 35 of the Act entitled ``An Act to provide for the
registration and protection of trademarks used in commerce, to carry
out the provisions of certain international conventions, and for other
purposes'', approved July 5, 1946 (commonly referred to as the
``Trademark Act of 1946''; 15 U.S.C. 1117), is amended by adding at the
end the following new subsection:
``(e) In the case of a violation referred to in this section, it
shall be a rebuttable presumption that the violation is willful for
purposes of determining relief if the violator, or a person acting in
concert with the violator, knowingly provided or knowingly caused to be
provided materially false contact information to a domain name
registrar, domain name registry, or other domain name registration
authority in registering, maintaining, or renewing a domain name used
in connection with the violation. Nothing in this subsection limits
what may be considered a willful violation under this section.''.
SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO TITLE 17, UNITED STATES CODE.
Section 504(c) of title 17, United States Code, is amended by
adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(3)(A) In a case of infringement, it shall be a
rebuttable presumption that the infringement was committed
willfully for purposes of determining relief if the violator,
or a person acting in concert with the violator, knowingly
provided or knowingly caused to be provided materially false
contact information to a domain name registrar, domain name
registry, or other domain name registration authority in
registering, maintaining, or renewing a domain name used in
connection with the infringement.
``(B) Nothing in this paragraph limits what may be
considered willful infringement under this subsection.
``(C) For purposes of this paragraph, the term `domain
name' has the meaning given that term in section 45 of the Act
entitled `An Act to provide for the registration and protection
of trademarks used in commerce, to carry out the provisions of
certain international conventions, and for other purposes'
approved July 5, 1946 (commonly referred to as the `Trademark
Act of 1946'; 15 U.S.C. 1127).''.
SEC. 4. AMENDMENT TO TITLE 18, UNITED STATES CODE.
(a) Sentencing Enhancement.--Section 3559 of title 18, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(f)(1) If a defendant being prosecuted for a felony offense
(other than offense of which an element is the false registration of a
domain name) knowingly falsely registers a domain name and knowingly
uses that domain name in the course of that offense, the maximum
imprisonment otherwise provided by law for that offense shall be
doubled or increased by 7 years, whichever is less.
``(2) As used in this section--
``(A) the term `falsely registers' means registers in a
manner that prevents the effective identification of or contact
with the person who registers; and
``(B) the term `domain name' has the meaning given that
term is section 45 of the Act entitled `An Act to provide for
the registration and protection of trademarks used in commerce,
to carry out the provisions of certain international
conventions, and for other purposes' approved July 5, 1946
(commonly referred to as the `Trademark Act of 1946') (15
U.S.C. 1127).''.
(b) United States Sentencing Commission.--
(1) Directive.--Pursuant to its authority under section
994(p) of title 28, United States Code, and in accordance with
this section, the United States Sentencing Commission shall
review and amend the sentencing guidelines and policy
statements to ensure that the applicable guideline range for a
defendant convicted of any felony offense carried out online
that may be facilitated through the use of a domain name
registered with materially false contact information is
sufficiently stringent to deter commission of such acts.
(2) Requirements.--In carrying out this subsection, the
Sentencing Commission shall provide sentencing enhancements for
anyone convicted of any felony offense furthered through
knowingly providing or knowingly causing to be provided
materially false contact information to a domain name
registrar, domain name registry, or other domain name
registration authority in registering, maintaining, or renewing
a domain name used in connection with the violation.
(3) Definition.--For purposes of this subsection, the term
``domain name'' has the meaning given that term in section 45
of the Act entitled ``An Act to provide for the registration
and protection of trademarks used in commerce, to carry out the
provisions of certain international conventions, and for other
purposes'', approved July 5, 1946 (commonly referred to as the
``Trademark Act of 1946''; 15 U.S.C. 1127).
Union Calendar No. 310
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 3754
[Report No. 108-536]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide additional civil and criminal remedies for domain name
fraud.
_______________________________________________________________________
June 9, 2004
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
