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Support builds for anti-UIGEA Bill
 July 26, 2007, 12:39 am (4 years ago)The future of internet gambling in the United States received a significant boost this month as five more Congressmen have voiced their support for proposed legislation that would ensure that the industry is properly regulated and taxed, rather than banned.
Bill Hr 2046, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act, which was penned by Congressman Barney Frank, Chairman of the influential House Financial Services Committee, could ensure the survival of internet gambling in the country.
The latest Congressmen to add their support to the Bill include Steven Rothman, Michael Honda, Albert Russell Wynn, Anthony Weiner and Bennie Thompson, bringing the total number of co-sponsors to 32. The Bill only received 11 sponsors when it was first tabled in April.
There has been an increasing groundswell of support for the Bill and many expect more sponsors to sign up in the coming months. If the Bill is passed it will do away with last October’s Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) and pave the way for a legal internet gambling industry regulated by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
The UIGEA outlawed payment by bank or credit card companies to internet casinos, poker rooms and other online gambling companies.
The law is known to have hit online gaming companies hard – some depended on the US market for as much as 80 percent of their revenue. This has led to increased investment by gambling operators in Europe and other parts of the world.
However, Congressman Frank’s Bill could see the end of what he describes as “one of the stupidest laws ever passed by Congress”.
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