Barney frank online gambling bill discus…
July 22nd, 2010 – by Glen Farmer The Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act had its moment in the sun on Wednesday, as the House Financial Committee had brought the issue to the table. the committee and several witnesses met to discuss the possibility of regulating online gambling, and some very solid points were made. The hearing kicked off at roughly 2:30 EST, about a half hour later than it should have. Representative Spencer Bachus (R-AL) blasted online gambling right off the bat. Some leaders in the banking industry had showed up to give their take on the UIGEA, as did Michael K. Fagan, a former prosecutor of money laundering felons and racketeers, and professional USA online poker player Annie Duke. Lynn Malerba, Tribal Chairwoman of the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut had also come to give her testimony. Barney Frank, H.R. 2267′s author, chaired the committee that discussed the bill. Bachus opened the discussion and made a very strong point that the government has a responsibility to protect underage gamblers from engaging in online gambling, which had been met by the continuous retort that current legislation banning online gambling does nothing to prevent minors from playing online with real cash. Michael Fagan took the stand as a private citizen, neither for nor against online gambling. Fagan accentuated the legal complications surrounding online gambling. as a former prosecutor of money laundering, Fagan went on to saw that online gambling is a threat to legal financial processes, making it a point to state that the IRS currently has a tax code in place for unlicensed gambling operators, though the offshore gambling sites have not made any contributions under these laws. The casino industry on a whole has essentially been opposed to the regulation of online gambling due to their inability to receive a cut of the profits.
both Tom Malkasian of the Commerce Casino and Lynn Malerba were generally opposed to the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act in its current wording. Malkasian stated that “…limited forms of online poker can provide safe play for our patrons, but only if the legislation is done the right way.” Lynn Malerba of the Mohegan Tribe was simply there to protect the tribe’s interest and was open to the idea if legislation had been added to the bill to protect the tribal gambling industry. Financial institutions were limited represented by Ed Williams, President and CEO of the Discovery Federal Credit Union. Speaking on behalf of the Credit Union National Association, Williams stated hat the UIGEA has given credit unions a difficult burden to bear. His argument is that credit unions, already mired by a large amount of compliance burdens, does not have the definition of unlawful Internet gambling, and thus cannot effectively block transactions. Transactions pertaining to online casinos especially are difficult to regulate. A mark up hearing is likely to occur in the upcoming weeks. what will come of this mark up is currently unknown. for every proponent to USA online gambling there seems to be at least one opponent, and the industry will still face trouble in reaching a status of regulation rather than criminalization. Tags: hr 2267, internet gambling regulation consumer protection and enforcement act, legal online gambling, online gambling, regulated online gambling, uigea, USA online gambling Barney Frank Online Gambling Bill Discussed In Committee With Heavy Opposition