In a press statement titled "Americans Still Free to Gamble
Online" the Interactive Gaming Council, a trade association
for Internet gambling operators, pointed to important aspects of the
new US legislation this week.
The IGC statement paints a background to the law whereby "Literally
in the dark of night, without debate and far from public scrutiny,
Republican leaders in Congress added an Internet gambling prohibition
bill to completely unrelated, but important, legislation on port security.
Without even reading the tacked-on provisions, legislators passed
the entire measure before adjourning for their election recess."
But it is important to note, the statement continues, that individual
American players are still free to gamble online. The prohibition
bill does not make it a crime for the individual participant. The
focus of the bill is on the financial transaction – the transmission
of money from the player to the operator of the gambling site. American
online gamblers can "...continue to play without fear of
federal prosecution. However, some of their favorite sites may no
longer accept their wagers, as many of the publicly traded online
gambling companies have announced that they would stop taking American
bets."
“This bill doesn’t do anything to protect American
consumers who choose to enjoy Internet poker and other games,”
said Keith Furlong, deputy director of the IGC. “But the
immediate effect is to drive the industry further underground. Gambling
sites will devise new methods for getting money from / to a market
where players have shown a resilient demand for this type of entertainment.
"The sad thing is, however, that many of the largest and most
responsible companies, some of whom are major public companies listed
on the London Stock Exchange, are being forced to stop providing real-money
games.
“This will prove to be a classic case of unintended consequences.
In the guise of protecting vulnerable Americans – minors who
want to gamble and adults who can’t control their gambling –
Congress has actually heightened the risk to these groups. It has
driven away the operators who followed the most socially responsible
practices. It has also increased the possibility of online gambling
being used for money laundering, because it has outlawed the most
easily tracked methods of payment.”
“With few exceptions, U.S. states have demonstrated over many
years that they can successfully regulate the bricks-and-mortar gambling
industry,” added Rick Smith, executive director of the IGC.
“That industry employs thousands of people and generates millions
of dollars in tax revenue. The same principles could have been followed
in the Internet gambling industry. With licensing and rigorous regulation
of online gambling sites, rather than futile attempts at prohibition,
governments can ensure that games are fair, operators are honest and
solvent and vulnerable players are protected. And the governments
could have reaped millions in taxes.”
The IGC comments that the U.S. Congress has demonstrated little interest
in objectively researching online gambling before attempting to pass
laws against it. "In fact it specifically rejected attempts
to include provisions to study the possibility of regulation,"
the statement claims.
“This was a sneaky election ploy,” Furlong
said. “It’s no coincidence that a ban on Internet
gambling is part of the ‘family values’ platform of the
extreme right, which wants to distract voters from real problems,
such as the war in Iraq, and at the same time impose its moral agenda
on Americans, depriving them of their freedom of choice.”
The statement goes on to question the motives of major proponents
of the legislation such as Rep. James Leach and Senate Majority Leader
Bill Frist of Tennessee, who led the weekend maneuver to pass the
ban, saying ".....these moral crusaders showed their true
political colors by exempting Internet wagering on horse races and
lotteries from their bill. In many states, people are free to gamble
online as much as they want on U.S. horse races and state lotteries.
In fact, in a research report in March, an investment bank claimed
that the U.S. horse racing industry now generates over 15 percent
of its revenue from online wagers.
“What a contrast between the U.S., which after all went through
a notoriously unsuccessful attempt to ban alcohol, and Britain, which
is methodically preparing to license and regulate online gambling,
starting next year,” Smith said.