Barney Frank plans to introduce a bill against UIGEA in March

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February 24, 2009 - 12:10pm

Barney Frank is getting ready to propose anti-Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) passed in 2006 next month.
Frank has been opposing this act ever since it was passed. Frank’s vocal opposition to the UIGEA was reinforced recently. In one of the interviews and conferences as a new Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Frank told that he planned to propose an online gaming legislation making online poker games legal. On February 20, Reuters confirmed his statement by highlighting the bill would be introduced next month.

There are different opinions about the causes of the bill: it can be the report that the European Union was considering filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding to the United States enforcement of the UIGEA as the bill is forcing online gaming companies to lose U.S. customers; it might also be the case of Anurag Dikshit, PartyGaming founder, when he had to pay fines of $300 million to the U.S. government.

Nevertheless, it is not known whether Frank will reintroduce one of his prior legislation or construct a new bill.

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Congressman Moves To Lift Ban On Online Gambling

Chairman of the Financial Services Committee, Barney Frank, is determined to repeal a controversial three-year ban on online gambling.
By W. David Gardner
InformationWeek
March 8, 2009 05:30 PM

With the Democrats in the U.S. Congress drafting legislation to repeal a controversial three-year ban on online gambling, Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said he will work to see the legislation passed. Frank has been an outspoken critic of the ban from its inception.
"I'm going to be pushing it," he said at a press conference where he presented his agenda for reforming U.S. financial regulation. Opponents of the ban estimate that its elimination could, over a decade, raise more than $50 billion through taxes on online Internet gambling, provided it's regulated.

The controversial legislation to ban online gambling was passed three years ago amid complaints it would be too difficult to regulate and might even be unconstitutional. Various foreign interests have complained that the existing law could be a violation of World Trade Organization regulations and various countries have initiated complaints with the WTO. In London, the Remote Gambling Association has complained that U.S. gambling interests are free to operate while European and other foreign countries are prosecuted under the provisions of the legislation that bans online gambling.
"The existing legislation is an inappropriate interference on the personal freedom of Americans and this interference should be undone," Frank said earlier, as he stepped up his campaign against online gambling legislation called the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act of 2007.

Frank is the chairman of the Financial Services Committee.

Congressman Moves To Lift Ban On Online Gambling -- Online Gambling -- InformationWeek

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Gaming expert Richard Hauser said, "Harrah's, MGM Mirage, and the like will try to use their brand power to overwhelm the smaller foreign-based online casinos. Those companies are no longer able to continue their out-of-control spending on new resorts, and are turning to the Internet as a new source of income."

The American Gaming Association, the leading advocate for the big Nevada and New Jersey casino operators, has been going through a sea change in its attitude toward online gambling. Once a staunch opponent, the AGA now is a cautious supporter of licensed and regulated Internet gaming in the US.