Online Gambling Fights Back!

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Three separate political attacks shaping up on the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act

Three separate political initiatives attacking the purpose of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in the United States are currently in motion, with mainstream media coverage of the US decision not to comply with the World Trade Organisation ruling that US practices are discriminatory keeping the spotlight firmly on the industry.

The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Congressman Barney Frank was the first in a series of politicians to express distaste for the UIGEA, which he described as "the stupidest law" before launching his recent proposal to licence and regulate online gambling in the United States. His Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act of 2007 has "cautious" support from the American Gaming Association and has been widely cheered by organisations such as the increasingly influential 400 000 member Poker Players' Association.

The second attack came from Nevada Representative Shelley Berkley, who has introduced a bill calling for a one-year study of online wagering by the National Academy of Sciences.

"One of the advantages of this legislation is that it doesn't take a side," she said. "It doesn't say Internet gambling is good or bad. It says 'Let's study the issue.' "

Berkley has been upfront in her opposition to the UIGEA, saying that she would like to see the repeal of the law, which hampers financial transactions with online gambling firms whilst not specifically making the act of online gambling illegal beyond the Wire Act.

"It's very difficult to unring a bell once it has rung in Washington," Berkley told media this week. "But the ban was sneaked onto a port security bill, and the people who voted for it, including myself, were not contemplating a ban on Internet gambling."

Berkely's bill already has 60 sponsors and counting, including Frank and Representatives Dean Heller, Jon Porter, John Conyers (the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee which is likely to review Berkley's bill) and Frank LoBiondo, a New Jersey Republican who represents casinos in Atlantic City.

The third assault on the UGIEA comes from Florida, where Representative Bob Wexler is proposing a carve-out for online poker from the UGIEA similar to those already existing for horseracing, fantasy games and state lotteries.

In the midst of this growing opposition, the US government's decision to effectively renege on its previous trade agreements by seeking to remove US online gambling from the scope of the World Trade Organisation raises the controversial prospect of the Americans having to compensate other members affected by such a revision.  That could be costly.