This really is part 1 of a multipart series of articles regarding proposed anti-gambling legislation. In this article I discuss the proposed legislation, what the politicians say it will, some details about the current state of online gambling, and what the bills really propose.
The legislators are attempting to protect us from something, or are they? The whole thing seems a little confusing to state the least.
The House, and the Senate, are once again considering the matter of “Online Gambling” ;.Bills have been submitted by Congressmen Goodlatte and Leach, and also by Senator Kyl.
The bill being put forward by Rep. Goodlatte gets the stated intention of updating the Wire Act to outlaw all forms of online gambling, to create it illegal for a gambling business to simply accept credit and electronic transfers, and to force ISPs and Common Carriers to block usage of gambling related sites at the request of law enforcement.
Just as does Rep. Goodlatte, Sen. Kyl, in his bill, Prohibition on Funding of Unlawful Internet Gambling, helps it be illegal for gambling businesses to simply accept credit cards, electronic transfers, checks and other designs of payment, but his bill does not address the keeping of bets.
The bill submitted by Rep. Leach, The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, is simply a copy of the bill submitted by Sen. Kyl. It centers on preventing gambling businesses from accepting credit cards, electronic transfers, checks, and other payments, and such as the Kyl bill makes no changes as to the is currently legal.
Based on Rep. Goodlatte “While gambling is currently illegal in the United States unless regulated by the states, the development of the Internet has made gambling easily accessible. It is common for illegal gambling businesses to use freely until law enforcement finds and stops them.”
Actually, American courts have determined that the Wire Act makes only Sports Betting illegal, and even then only across telephone lines. Not many states have laws that make online gambling illegal, some states and Tribes have taken steps to legalize online gambling, and even the Federal government recognizes some forms of online gambling to be legal.메이저사이트
Goodlatte himself says his bill “cracks down on illegal gambling by updating the Wire Act to cover all forms of interstate gambling and account for new technologies. Under current federal law, it is unclear whether using the Internet to use a gambling business is illegal” ;.
Goodlatte’s bill however does not “cover all forms of interstate gambling” as he claims, but instead carves out exemptions for all forms of online gambling such as state lotteries, bets on horse racing, and fantasy sports. Even then, his modifications to the Wire Act do not make online gambling illegal, they ensure it is illegal for a gambling business to simply accept online bets where a person risks something of value “upon the results of a contest of others, a sporting event, or even a game predominantly susceptible to chance”, except needless to say when it is circumstances lottery, horse race, fantasy sports, or certainly one of added situations.
The truth of the problem is that a lot of online gambling businesses have positioned in other countries specifically to prevent the gray area that’s the current state of online gambling in the US. Consequently, there is little that law enforcement can perform to enforce these laws. Trying to help make the laws tougher, and providing for stiffer penalties, won’t make them better to enforce.
As well, most, if not totally all, banks and credit card companies won’t transfer money to an on the web gambling business now, as a result of pressure from the federal government. Consequently, alternative payment systems sprang up to fill the void.
Senator Kyl is equally misleading in his statements. From his proposed bill, “Internet gambling is primarily funded through personal utilization of payment system instruments, credit cards, and wire transfers.” But as we know, most credit cards in the U.S. refuse attempts to fund a gambling account.
Also from the Kyl bill, “Internet gambling is an increasing reason behind debt collection problems for insured depository institutions and the consumer credit industry.” If the credit card companies and other financial institutions in the U.S aren’t allowing the funding of gambling, how can it be “an increasing reason behind debt collection problems” ;.And since when do we want legislation to ensure that the financial industry to protect itself from high risk debt. If the financial industry was accepting gambling debts and these gambling charges were a problem for them, wouldn’t they only stop accepting them?