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The long road back to some semblance of sanity in regard to online gambling laws began last month as Representative Barney Frank proposed new legislation designed to allow U.S.-based companies to obtain licenses and operate regulated online gambling sites.
The bill, snappily titled the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act of 2009, would also allow such sites to accept bets from U.S. customers. A long-time opponent of the draconian Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA), Frank also sought to delay the final implementation of the UIGEA that stops players depositing funds to offshore online gambling sites.
Frank made no secret of his distaste for the UIGEA when it passed in 2006, and he has launched numerous efforts since then to repeal the law, render it unenforceable, and spur a movement towards legalized online gaming. After Barack Obama won the election last November, Frank took his rhetoric about the issue of online gaming to a new level. And in February, he told reporters he would introduce a bill to repeal the UIGEA, and he continued to speak about it when more pressing issues like the banking crisis took center stage.
Despite the current prohibition, which was hurriedly passed through the Senate in October 2006, and tacked onto a completely separate Safe Ports security Bill, millions of Americans continue to wager more than $100 billion annually with offshore Internet gambling operators.
The democratic maverick still draws criticism from his right-wing opponents, like Representative Spencer Bachus. "Illegal offshore internet gambling sites are a criminal enterprise," said Bachus. "Allowing them to operate unfettered in the United States would present a clear danger to our youth, who are subject to becoming addicted to gambling at an early age." |
