American View Of US Online Gaming Prohibition
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
An American's View Of US Online Gaming Prohibition
On September 29, the US Senate passed the Port Security Improvement Act of 2006, sending the online gambling community into a state of shock and disbelief. The act itself is a congressional budget of $3.4 Billion dollars over 5 years to be used for strengthening port security and increasing the safety of the coastal United States.
One has to wonder why a homeland security bill has sent such shockwaves through the world of internet gambling. The reason for this is because the GOP (Republican National Party) tacked on an unrelated bill to the Act titled "The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act". This gambling act was a combination of two other anti-gambling bills that were introduced in the House of Representatives earlier this year, but never voted on by the US Senate.
"Congress has grappled with this issue for 10 years, and during that time we've watched this shadow industry explode," stated Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN).
What Frist should have realized is that the reason they have failed to pass this legislation for an entire decade is because it does not best serve the interest of the American public. Even the US Department of Justice, under former Attorney General Janet Reno, stated that attempts to enforce any such laws in reference to internet wagering were unrealistic and a waste of tax dollars to legislate.
Apparently, all Frist and fellow Congressional Republicans learned is that if a bill is unable to pass on it's own merits, it is time to resort to deception and trickery to get your agenda through. They first attempted this by adding this bill onto a military spending bill which was all but guaranteed to pass due to the escalating violence in Iraq. The Democrats raised strong objections to this unrelated add-on citing abuse of power, forcing the GOP to remove it. It somehow found itself on the Port Security Act, despite the fact that other unrelated add-ons had been rejected.
While the Unlawful Gambling Act does not bring the outdated "Wire Act" (Title 18 US Criminal Code) up to date, in any form, to include the internet as a recognized gambling medium, it does include a couple of specific changes targeted at cracking down on internet wagering.
First and foremost among these changes is a direct approach to the financing of internet gambling. Under the Act, it will be unlawful for financial networks to allow Credit Cards, ACH, Stored Value Cards, electronic checks (debits), electronic funds transfers or physical checks to be used to settle internet gambling debts.
While most US banks have voluntarily blocked these credit card transactions for years, they have opposed the new bill claiming that it puts unfair policing responsibilities on them and will increase the operating costs of their business. Because of this, the Act states the certain financial instruments will be exempt if it is not "reasonably practical" for them to be blocked. This could open a back door for players to fund their internet accounts. The US Federal Reserve has been given 270 days from the signing of the act by President Bush to come up with the policies which will be used. Until that time, anything said on the subject is little more than speculation.
The other notable change in this bill is that it will force Internet Service Providers and hosting companies, upon written notice from the State Attorney General or the US Attorney General, to remove hyperlinks on their servers that point to internet gambling content. This is not only an expensive and ineffective method of dealing with the issue at hand, but could also become a gross violation of the freedom of speech laws that the beloved First Amendment of the US Constitution has so strongly protected for more than 200 years.
Of course, the bill does not exclude all forms of Internet Gambling. Horse Racing, State sanctioned lotteries, Intrastate Gambling, Tribal Gambling and even Fantasy Sports are authorized forms of internet gambling under the bill. This has left many to speculate that special interests are behind the deceptive method of passing the bill, in light of untold millions of dollars from Tribal Casinos and Las Vegas resorts who would like to shut down the offshore competition and retain their monopoly on wagering.
If nothing else, it is easy to see who is already benefiting from the law. Upon news of the Senate vote, shares of internet gambling companies that are publicly traded lost as much as 70% of their value in a single day of trading, and public companies that provide payment processing services to the internet sector lost as much as 40% of their value. In addition to this, some of the largest and most well known gambling sites online have announced that they will no longer accept wagers from the United States.
At the same time, Harrahs Entertainment, the world's largest gaming company, has received an offer for all outstanding shares of stock to be purchased at an unprecedented rate of $81 USD per share. The share price of other leading Las Vegas resorts is also on the rise following news of the bill's passage, and tribal casinos across the country are anxiously awaiting an increase in business from Midwestern gamblers who are willing to make the one hour trip to their nearest casino. It is clear to say that the special interests who lined the pockets of GOP politicians are the clear winners in these early rounds, and it seems that most any internet bookmaker would lay odds in their favor for the long term as well, now that the deck is stacked unfairly in their favor.
The Las Vegas corporations aren't the only ones looking forward to the benefits of the anti-internet crusade. A New York bookie identified only as 'Richie' was quoted as saying "I can't wait to get some of my customers back from that internet." During the alcohol prohibition the US imposed almost a century ago, the mafia was boosted from small time thugs to an international powerhouse. One has to wonder how powerful the gambling prohibition will make the present day mafia, as anyone wishing to bet on sports anywhere other than Las Vegas will have no choice but to use bar room bookies that are almost always paying kick backs to the local mob.
We are also left to wonder where Antigua fits into all of this. In 2004 the island nation filed suit against the United States with the World Trade Organization. At that time the WTO ruled that the US was unfairly infringing on the rights of Antiguan businesses that operate internet gambling sites. The US appealed the ruling and lost again, but to this day they have failed to make any of the changes required by the WTO.
In fact, it seems that they have made a calculated decision to go the opposite direction, with the arrest of multiple foreign nationals that have ties to the Antiguan gambling industry, and now by making a firm rule to block the financial transactions of those businesses. In the usual hypocritical manner, the US now has their own case with the WTO filed against China for infringing on the rights of their auto parts industry. It would seem that they have no problems using the WTO when it is to their advantage, but come to the decision to pretend the organization doesn't exist when a ruling is made against them, not unlike the position the took with the United Nations when decided to go to war in Iraq.
In closing I must say that the entire situation is nothing more than an embarrassment of the American political system. Hiding a special interest bill inside a national security bill is deceptive and underhanded to say the least, and the hypocritical manner in which this administration conducts business is nothing short of distasteful and corrupt. It makes me ashamed to be a citizen of a nation that teaches "honor" and "integrity" to it's youth and then fails to practice what it preaches on any level. It would seem that all anyone cares about in this is lining their pockets as much as possible before the election, despite the billions of dollars being lost by Americans and Europeans in the stock market as the initial fall out from these unethical tactics - and that is only in the first couple of days. We can only guess as to how damaging the long term effects will be.
With all things considered I can only close with two simple words - vote Democrat.
Online Gaming Ban RelatedOn September 29, the US Senate passed the Port Security Improvement Act of 2006, sending the online gambling community into a state of shock and disbelief. The act itself is a congressional budget of $3.4 Billion dollars over 5 years to be used for strengthening port security and increasing the safety of the coastal United States.
One has to wonder why a homeland security bill has sent such shockwaves through the world of internet gambling. The reason for this is because the GOP (Republican National Party) tacked on an unrelated bill to the Act titled "The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act". This gambling act was a combination of two other anti-gambling bills that were introduced in the House of Representatives earlier this year, but never voted on by the US Senate.
"Congress has grappled with this issue for 10 years, and during that time we've watched this shadow industry explode," stated Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN).
What Frist should have realized is that the reason they have failed to pass this legislation for an entire decade is because it does not best serve the interest of the American public. Even the US Department of Justice, under former Attorney General Janet Reno, stated that attempts to enforce any such laws in reference to internet wagering were unrealistic and a waste of tax dollars to legislate.
Apparently, all Frist and fellow Congressional Republicans learned is that if a bill is unable to pass on it's own merits, it is time to resort to deception and trickery to get your agenda through. They first attempted this by adding this bill onto a military spending bill which was all but guaranteed to pass due to the escalating violence in Iraq. The Democrats raised strong objections to this unrelated add-on citing abuse of power, forcing the GOP to remove it. It somehow found itself on the Port Security Act, despite the fact that other unrelated add-ons had been rejected.
While the Unlawful Gambling Act does not bring the outdated "Wire Act" (Title 18 US Criminal Code) up to date, in any form, to include the internet as a recognized gambling medium, it does include a couple of specific changes targeted at cracking down on internet wagering.
First and foremost among these changes is a direct approach to the financing of internet gambling. Under the Act, it will be unlawful for financial networks to allow Credit Cards, ACH, Stored Value Cards, electronic checks (debits), electronic funds transfers or physical checks to be used to settle internet gambling debts.
While most US banks have voluntarily blocked these credit card transactions for years, they have opposed the new bill claiming that it puts unfair policing responsibilities on them and will increase the operating costs of their business. Because of this, the Act states the certain financial instruments will be exempt if it is not "reasonably practical" for them to be blocked. This could open a back door for players to fund their internet accounts. The US Federal Reserve has been given 270 days from the signing of the act by President Bush to come up with the policies which will be used. Until that time, anything said on the subject is little more than speculation.
The other notable change in this bill is that it will force Internet Service Providers and hosting companies, upon written notice from the State Attorney General or the US Attorney General, to remove hyperlinks on their servers that point to internet gambling content. This is not only an expensive and ineffective method of dealing with the issue at hand, but could also become a gross violation of the freedom of speech laws that the beloved First Amendment of the US Constitution has so strongly protected for more than 200 years.
Of course, the bill does not exclude all forms of Internet Gambling. Horse Racing, State sanctioned lotteries, Intrastate Gambling, Tribal Gambling and even Fantasy Sports are authorized forms of internet gambling under the bill. This has left many to speculate that special interests are behind the deceptive method of passing the bill, in light of untold millions of dollars from Tribal Casinos and Las Vegas resorts who would like to shut down the offshore competition and retain their monopoly on wagering.
If nothing else, it is easy to see who is already benefiting from the law. Upon news of the Senate vote, shares of internet gambling companies that are publicly traded lost as much as 70% of their value in a single day of trading, and public companies that provide payment processing services to the internet sector lost as much as 40% of their value. In addition to this, some of the largest and most well known gambling sites online have announced that they will no longer accept wagers from the United States.
At the same time, Harrahs Entertainment, the world's largest gaming company, has received an offer for all outstanding shares of stock to be purchased at an unprecedented rate of $81 USD per share. The share price of other leading Las Vegas resorts is also on the rise following news of the bill's passage, and tribal casinos across the country are anxiously awaiting an increase in business from Midwestern gamblers who are willing to make the one hour trip to their nearest casino. It is clear to say that the special interests who lined the pockets of GOP politicians are the clear winners in these early rounds, and it seems that most any internet bookmaker would lay odds in their favor for the long term as well, now that the deck is stacked unfairly in their favor.
The Las Vegas corporations aren't the only ones looking forward to the benefits of the anti-internet crusade. A New York bookie identified only as 'Richie' was quoted as saying "I can't wait to get some of my customers back from that internet." During the alcohol prohibition the US imposed almost a century ago, the mafia was boosted from small time thugs to an international powerhouse. One has to wonder how powerful the gambling prohibition will make the present day mafia, as anyone wishing to bet on sports anywhere other than Las Vegas will have no choice but to use bar room bookies that are almost always paying kick backs to the local mob.
We are also left to wonder where Antigua fits into all of this. In 2004 the island nation filed suit against the United States with the World Trade Organization. At that time the WTO ruled that the US was unfairly infringing on the rights of Antiguan businesses that operate internet gambling sites. The US appealed the ruling and lost again, but to this day they have failed to make any of the changes required by the WTO.
In fact, it seems that they have made a calculated decision to go the opposite direction, with the arrest of multiple foreign nationals that have ties to the Antiguan gambling industry, and now by making a firm rule to block the financial transactions of those businesses. In the usual hypocritical manner, the US now has their own case with the WTO filed against China for infringing on the rights of their auto parts industry. It would seem that they have no problems using the WTO when it is to their advantage, but come to the decision to pretend the organization doesn't exist when a ruling is made against them, not unlike the position the took with the United Nations when decided to go to war in Iraq.
In closing I must say that the entire situation is nothing more than an embarrassment of the American political system. Hiding a special interest bill inside a national security bill is deceptive and underhanded to say the least, and the hypocritical manner in which this administration conducts business is nothing short of distasteful and corrupt. It makes me ashamed to be a citizen of a nation that teaches "honor" and "integrity" to it's youth and then fails to practice what it preaches on any level. It would seem that all anyone cares about in this is lining their pockets as much as possible before the election, despite the billions of dollars being lost by Americans and Europeans in the stock market as the initial fall out from these unethical tactics - and that is only in the first couple of days. We can only guess as to how damaging the long term effects will be.
With all things considered I can only close with two simple words - vote Democrat.
♠ Where now for the gaming sector?
♠ Online gaming in crisis after U.S. ban is passed
♠ GOP aims to crack down on Web gambling
Posted by Global Gaming News - Jerry Garner
