Oct
2

Internet Gaming Bill

jamin on October 2nd, 2006

The Unlawful Internet Gaming Bill has passed despite the fact that there was no debate on the subject and according to research 74% of Americans oppose a ban on online poker. The Poker Players Alliance has issued a response and an action plan. Perhaps Wil Wheaton said it best,

So, according to the congress, torture is good, and online poker is bad.

Man, I really miss my country.

Personally I think this will be as successful as Prohibition.

Update: PartyPoker.com, the largest online poker site, has issued a press release stating that if the President signs this bill into law, they will suspend real-money operations with all US customers.

Update: Legal Expert and authority on gambling law, I. Nelson Rose, comments on the Bill.

“Would-be presidential candidate Sen. Bill Frist warped the law-making process to score a few points with his right-wing religious base,” he stated in the opening of our conversation. Professor Rose quickly moved on to his analysis of the bill by remarking, “The new law will be difficult to enforce. It only applies to “unlawful” gaming, but does not expand the reach of the main federal anti-gaming statute, the Wire Act. So, there are still going to be arguments that Internet poker, for example, is not unlawful.”

You can also read his full analysis of the Bill.

Tags:

Uncategorized Subscribe to RSS feed

3 Responses to “Internet Gaming Bill”

  1. Peter
    October 2nd, 2006 at 12:33 pm

    So has cryptologic (licenses out their poker room to sites such as interpoker.com) as well as a number of other big players in the market.

  2. Ryan
    October 3rd, 2006 at 8:52 pm

    I don’t think this will be the end of internet gambling. It will merely push it into extra-legal channels. When the government has tried prohibition of any form, it has failed to put an end to the “vices” it has sought to prohibit. Making alcohol illegal didn’t put an end to drinking. Making certain drugs illegal has not curbed the use of those drugs. Rather, people just found a way to get around the laws. I think the same will happen here.

    From a policy standpoint, I do think it’s a stupid idea. It will be a difficult law to enforce. Moreover, by making it illegal, they have given up the opportunity to regulate the business and tax it, and they have ensured an internet gambling industry that will generate no tax revenue and will be less safe for those who use it.

  3. jamin
    October 5th, 2006 at 7:57 am

    I don’t think it’ll be the end either. But it is interesting that a number of big name poker sites have pulled out of the US Market immediately. I tend to think Negreanu probably has it right:

    What’s still a really grey area is what exactly will happen to a company like Neteller. Neteller isn’t a U.S. bank so the U.S. government should have no jurisdiction over Neteller accounts. If that’s true, then things will continue to be business as usual.

    The way I understand it, you will still be able to fund your Neteller account from your bank account. Neteller is NOT an online gaming company. Your bank would have virtually no way of tracing what you do with your funds after you send them to Neteller, which appears to be totally legal as I understand it.