PPA Attacks FBI Letter on Internet Gambling
Written by Roger S | Monday, December 7th, 2009
The Poker Players Alliance has come out strongly against a letter from the Federal Bureau of Investigations claiming that collusion is possible at online poker sites. The letter also implied that there was very little done to counter collusion at these poker rooms.
The letter was presented by Shawn Henry, Assistant Director of the Cyber Division of the FBI at a Financial Services Committee hearing in Washington on Thursday. Henry was among only a handful of people who presented an anti-online gambling stance at the hearing that was scheduled to give information about Barney Frank’s Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act (HR 2267).
The Poker Players Alliance quickly challenged the claim made by the FBI and said in a statement: “The largest poker sites all use software to detect collusion. If a site is subjected to allegations that players are cheating, few players will play on that site.”
“Every concern the FBI letter raises is better addressed by licensing and regulation than by prohibition,” said John Pappas, the Executive Director of the Poker Players Alliance. “The letter misconstrues much about the current state of online poker, but it does so in a way that clearly makes the case for why federal oversight is necessary.”
Pappas concluded by saying: “Licensing and regulation is the most protective measure we can take to ensure the online community can be properly monitored while maintaining our internet freedom.”
The majority of the speakers at the special hearing presented arguments in favor of a regulated industry and said that there already was technology available to protect consumers almost immediately.
“The notion that this Congress should tell millions of adult Americans that we know better than they what they should with their own money on their own time on their own computer seems to me to be a very grave error,” said Rep. Barney Frank.
“It is true if things are on the Internet, there is the possibility that underage people can get at them,” he said. “There are a whole range of things on the Internet that we would not like underage people to use….the notion that because some people will abuse something, you prevent everybody from doing it, is as great a threat to the liberty of the individual as any philosophy I have seen.”
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· Written by Roger S · Filed Under Poker Gossip · Comments Off
