Massachusetts Gambling Bill May Be a Forerunner of Change
17 February, 2009. Autor: pokernews
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The Bill, HR 3964, removes a clause that makes online gaming and poker illegal. This is a start at changing the laws in the US to make poker and other forms of online wagering legal, without any crimes being committed or fear of large fines.
Ex-congressman Alfonse D'Amato is pushing to remove the anti- gaming law with regard to bank funding with credit cards His push is to repeal AIGEA and get the banks out of the law enforcement business. His push is via Roll Call and his hook is the United States can raise a great deal of money from online gaming taxes. (In the billions) As the current leader of PPA, Poker Players Alliance, he is an active spokes-person for returning the USA to legal online gaming and in particular Poker.
On another front, US Congressman Barney Frank is going to file a bill doing away with the AIGEA. (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.) All of these ideas are designed to make US players legally able to again play on websites that will not let US players play. 
The funding restrictions have made many of these sites nervous about US players. The hook is that legal controlled play can be taxed and will raise billions of dollars for the government.
The current enforcement of AIGEA is a joke as the casinos have found a number of ways to fund accounts without using credit cards. US players are uniformly restricted on many European online casinos, but the rest of the online community seems to believe that they can still let US players play.
With the current economic crisis and the need for money for the bailout, the gaming tax idea will get many supporters in the US legislature. Poker is a long time favorite recreation for many politicians and the online folks will be happy to see these pols on their side in the debate about controlling US players and online gaming. The Democrats seem to have a less moral idea about gaming than the Republicans in Congress. Voters for the current leaders in Congress are also not as opposed to gaming as the voters for the Republicans. This is an ideal time for a real push to be made in the US Congress. Even President Obama is an avid poker player. The change is on its way and may happen sooner than later.
TagsAIGEA The Democrats, online casinos, online poker, online wagering, poker casino, poker illegal, PPA, The BillSee also
