Sec. 4. Ensuring authenticity and integrity of court orders affecting interstate commerce

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Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, and in accordance with paragraph (2)— the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall develop proposed standards for the use of digital signature technology for covered orders, which shall— be based on open standards; and facilitate audits to enable courts to identify whether cryptographic keys, or an equally secure successor technology, used to digitally authenticate covered orders have been lost, stolen, or misused; and on the basis of the proposed standards developed under clause (i), the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts shall certify and promulgate standards for the use of digital signature technology for covered orders.

In accordance with paragraph (2)— not later than 5 years after developing proposed standards for the use of digital signature technology for covered orders under subparagraph (A)(i), and every 5 years thereafter, the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall update such standards; and not later than 6 months after receiving standards updated under clause (i), and on the basis of such standards, the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts shall certify and promulgate updated standards for the use of digital signature technology for covered orders.

In developing or updating proposed standards and certifying and promulgating standards under paragraph (1), the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts shall each consult with— the Attorney General; the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency; the Administrator of General Services; the Director of the Government Publishing Office; the National Center for State Courts; the National American Indian Court Judges Association; independent experts in cybersecurity; providers; private entities offering electronic case management software; and the Archivist of the United States.

Notwithstanding any limitations on the authority of the General Services Administration to provide services to State or Tribal entities, the Administrator of General Services shall offer a managed digital signature service to each Federal, State, or Tribal court that will allow the court to digitally sign covered orders without the court having to hold and secure the long-term cryptographic keys used to digitally authenticate the covered orders, or an equally secure successor technology.

The digital signature service offered under clause

(i)shall be developed and implemented in consultation with the Administrative Office of United States Courts, the National Center for State Courts, the National American Indian Court Judges Association, the Government Publishing Office, and the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The digital signature service offered under clause

(i)shall be designed to— permit an authorized court officer or employee of a Federal, State, or Tribal court to digitally sign covered orders from a court office and while teleworking; and be continuously available for use. If a Federal, State, or Tribal court elects to use the managed digital signature service offered under subparagraph (A), the General Services Administration shall provide an online service, available both through a publicly-documented and publicly-available application programming interface and through secure and public websites, that enable authorized court officers and employees to digitally sign a covered order and recipients of a covered order and other third parties to verify that the covered order has a valid digital signature at no cost to the recipient or third party. The Administrator of General Services shall provide the managed digital signature service to Federal, State, and Tribal courts under this paragraph at no cost to the court. The Attorney General shall reimburse the Administrator of General Services for the costs of building, operating, and maintaining the managed digital signature service for Federal, State, and Tribal courts. Beginning not later than 2 years after the date on which the standards are certified and promulgated by the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts under subsection (a)(1)(A)(ii), not less than 1 district court of the United States in each Federal judicial circuit shall use digital signature technology that complies with the standards to authenticate all covered orders issued by that court. Beginning not later than 4 years after the date on which the standards are certified and promulgated by the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts under subsection (a)(1)(A)(ii), each Federal court shall use digital signature technology that complies with the standards to authenticate all covered orders issued by the court. Not later than 1 year after the date on which updated standards are certified and promulgated by the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts under subsection (a)(1)(B)(ii), each Federal court system shall update the digital signature technology used by the court to comply with the updated standards. Each Federal court using digital signature technology shall develop, and update not less frequently than every 2 years, a written plan to respond to the loss or theft of the encryption keys, access credentials, or any successor technology used to digitally sign covered orders. Except as provided in subsections

(d)and (i), on and after the date that is 6 years after the date on which standards are certified and promulgated by the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts under subsection (a)(1)(A)(ii), a Federal court may not issue a covered order unless the covered order contains an authentic digital signature. Section 1738 of title 28, United States Code, is amended— by inserting

(a)before The Acts ; by inserting

(b)before The records ; by striking Such Acts, and inserting (c)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), such Acts, ; and in subsection (c), as so designated, by adding at the end the following: In this paragraph, the terms contains an authentic digital signature , covered order , digital signature , State , and Tribal have the meanings given such terms in section 3 of the Digital Authenticity for Court Orders Act of 2021 . A document purporting to be a covered order issued by a State or Tribal court shall be entitled to full faith and credit only if— the document contains an authentic digital signature; the document was served with a certificate of authenticity in accordance with section 4(d)(1) of the Digital Authenticity for Court Orders Act of 2021 ; or the document was issued pursuant to a waiver under section 4(d)(2) of the Digital Authenticity for Court Orders Act of 2021 ; and the State or Tribal court includes with the document a statement certifying that the court has (and has updated on or after the date that is 2 years before the date on which the covered order is issued) a written plan to respond to the loss or theft of the encryption keys, access credentials, or any successor technology used to digitally sign covered orders. . Section 2516(2) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking The principal prosecuting attorney of any State and inserting If a State requires that an order described in this subsection issued by the State court contains an authentic digital signature (as defined in section 3 of the . Digital Authenticity for Court Orders Act of 2021 ), the principal prosecuting attorney of that State Chapter 121 of title 18, United States Code, is amended— in section 2703, by inserting and containing an authentic digital signature (as defined in section 3 of the after Digital Authenticity for Court Orders Act of 2021 ) warrant procedures each place it appears; and in section 2711(3)(B), by inserting , if the court requires that each covered order issued by the court contains an authentic digital signature (as such terms are defined in section 3 of the after Digital Authenticity for Court Orders Act of 2021 ) search warrants . Section 3122(a)(2) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting and if the State requires that such an order issued by the State court contains an authentic digital signature (as defined in section 3 of the after Digital Authenticity for Court Orders Act of 2021 ), prohibited by State law, . Except as provided in subsection (i), the amendments made by paragraphs

(1)through

(4)shall take effect on the date that is 6 years after the date on which the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts certifies and promulgates standards for the use of digital signature technology for covered orders under subsection (a)(1)(A)(ii). If the digital signature technology of a Federal, State, or Tribal court is not operational, upon request by an officer or employee of the Federal, State, or Tribal court who is authorized to digitally sign covered orders, and if the Attorney General determines that a covered court order is authentic, the Attorney General may serve on the provider by personal service the covered court order and a certification stating that the covered court order is authentic. If the digital signature technology of not less than 5 Federal, State, or Tribal courts is not operational, the Chief Justice of the United States may issue a waiver for a period of not more than 30 days that waives the application of each of the following: The requirements under subsection (b)(2) with respect to Federal courts. The limits on full faith and credit for covered orders issued by State and Tribal courts under paragraph

(2)of section 1738(c) of title 28, United States Code, as added by subsection

(c)of this section. A waiver described in subparagraph

(A)may be renewed for additional periods of not more than 30 days. The Chief Justice of the United States shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress and make publicly available on the website of the Supreme Court of the United States notice of each waiver and renewal of a waiver under this paragraph. If a covered order of a Federal, State, or Tribal court is served on a provider under paragraph

(1)or pursuant to a waiver under paragraph (2), after the digital signature technology of the Federal, State, or Tribal court is operational, the party who obtained the initial order shall obtain and serve on the provider an identical covered order that meets the requirements under subsection (b)(2) or paragraph

(2)of section 1738(c) of title 28, United States Code, as applicable. The Attorney General shall make publicly available on the website of the Department of Justice a list of each Federal, State, or Tribal court for which the digital signature technology is not operational, which shall include— the period during which the Attorney General approved 1 or more covered court orders of the Federal, State, or Tribal court under paragraph (1); and information indicating the measures a provider can take to verify that a covered court order and certification served under paragraph

(1)are authentic. If the digital signature technology of a Federal, State, or Tribal court is not operational for a period of not less than 10 days, the Attorney General shall notify the appropriate committees of Congress. Except as provided in subsection (i), on and after the date that is 6 years after the date on which the standards are certified and promulgated by the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts under subsection (a)(1)(A)(ii), the provisions of law described in paragraph

(2)of this subsection shall only apply with respect to the provision of documents, data, or other information by a provider that removes content or makes available documents, data, or other information in response to a document purporting to be a covered order issued by a Federal, State, or Tribal court if— the document contains an authentic digital signature; the document was served with a certificate of authenticity in accordance with subsection (d)(1); and the provider— verified that the court that issued the order is listed on the website of the Department of Justice as having nonoperational digital signature technology; and takes the measures listed by the Attorney General to verify that a covered court order and certification served under subsection (d)(1) are authentic; or the document was issued pursuant to a waiver under subsection (d)(2). The provisions of law described in this paragraph are the following: Section 512 of title 17, United States Code. Section 2520(d)(1) of title 18, United States Code. Section 2707(e) of title 18, United States Code. Section 105(i) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ( 50 U.S.C. 1805(i) ). Section 402(f) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ( 50 U.S.C. 1842(f) ). Section 702(i)(3) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ( 50 U.S.C. 1881a(i)(3) ). Section 703(e) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ( 50 U.S.C. 1881b(e) ). Title VIII of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ( 50 U.S.C. 1885 et seq. ). The Administrative Office of United States Courts may make grants to State and Tribal courts for the cost of implementing digital signature technology, including to develop and implement training and educational resources, in accordance with this Act. Except as provided in subsection (i), on and after the date that is 6 years after the date on which the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts certifies and promulgates standards for the use of digital signature technology for covered orders under subsection (a)(1)(A)(ii), a person may not be held liable in any Federal, State, or Tribal administrative, civil, or criminal proceeding, including for contempt of court, for failing to comply with a covered order issued by a Federal, State, or Tribal court, respectively, if the covered order does not meet one of the following requirements: The covered order contains an authentic digital signature. The covered order was served with a certificate of authenticity in accordance with subsection (d)(1). The covered order was issued pursuant to a waiver under subsection (d)(2). In any action brought to enforce compliance with a covered order that, except as provided in subsection (i), was issued on or after the date that is 6 years after the date on which the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts certifies and promulgates standards for the use of digital signature technology for covered orders under subsection (a)(1)(A)(ii), if the court finds that the covered order does not meet the requirements described in subparagraph (A), (B), or

(C)of paragraph

(1)of this subsection, the court shall award to the person against whom the action was brought costs of litigation (including reasonable attorney fees). There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act, including for the Administrative Office of United States Courts to make grants under subsection

(f)and to upgrade the Case Management/Electronic Case Files System of the Federal Courts. The Judicial Conference of the United States may delay the effective dates under subsection (b)(2), subsection (c)(3), subsection (e)(1) and subsection

(g)to be the date that is 8 years after the date on which the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts certifies and promulgates standards for the use of digital signature technology for covered orders under subsection (a)(1)(A)(ii).

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Sec. 4

Ensuring authenticity and integrity of court orders affecting interstate commerce

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