iMEGA Denied Request by DoJ
Written by Tom L | Thursday, March 5th, 2009
The Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) was among the first to pursue legal action against the UIGEA. The matter currently stands in the Third Circuit, where iMEGA filed its brief on the 13th of November 2008. This was weeks before the final regulations of the UIGEA were passed. Since then there have been significant developments on the ground and iMEGA wanted to bring these on record. These developments relate to state lotteries in the states of New Hampshire and North Dakota.
Revenue from state run lotteries contributes significantly to the state exchequer in these states. A large number of lottery tickets are sold online. Earlier the major credit card companies like Visa and MasterCard classified these purchases under “government service”. However after the new UIGEA rules came into effect from the 19th of January 2009 this has changed.
In order to ensure that they are on the right side of the law the credit card companies have reclassified payments for lottery tickets as gambling purchases. This has been done even though the UIGEA has exempted lotteries from its purview. As a result many of these transactions are being denied. Where the transactions have been allowed there have been additional fees charged to the purchasers and also additional red tape involved. This has led to a fall in the purchase of lottery tickets and a decline in the revenue.
iMEGA Chairman, Joe Brennan said that this a prime example of void for vagueness and illustrates how the UIGEA would create implementation problems. Hence they wanted to supplement the record in the Third Circuit court. Keeping in mind the practices of professional courtesy iMEGA requested permission from the Department of Justice (DoJ) to add the material. Nicholas Bagley, Attorney for the Civil Division of the DoJ, informed iMEGA that the U.S. Government has denied permission.
Brennan responded to this move by saying, “It’s ridiculous because this deals with the real-world impact of the UIGEA. I’m not surprised, though, because this inclusion makes our case for us.” The route that iMEGA must now follow is to file a motion to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. This would increase both the time and cost, but iMEGA knew that it was fighting an arduous battle when it started.
Early on in the fight iMEGA received a setback in the lower court when it was not allowed to represent its members, because iMEGA itself does not operate online gambling sites. Then Judge Mary L. Cooper of the U.S. District Court of New Jersey granted legal standing to iMEGA in March 2008. However the judge disagreed with the arguments put forth by iMEGA. Hence iMEGA had to appeal to the Third Circuit.
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· Written by Tom L · Filed Under Poker News · Comments Off
