US Poker Bill Makes Progress
Written by Roger S | Friday, July 30th, 2010
Finally, we are seeing some progress regarding the Internet Gambling, Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act. Barney Frank’s HR 2267 was passed on Wednesday by the House Financial Services Committee by a margin of 41-22 and this can be seen as a sweet victory for Frank and other gambling proponents in their continuing battle to see online poker and gambler legalized.
However, Frank’s work is far from over. While HR 2267’s passage thus far is seen as a highly satisfactory, it still has a long way to go until it actually turns into law. Its next step in the process is the House of Representatives where it may be amended, and needs to meet a majority vote. Thereafter, it moves on to the Senate where another majority vote is needed. The final stamp on this process is a signature by President Obama.
When the committee met on Wednesday, a good number of hours were spent on discussions and amendments, the most significant being:
* Restricting the use of credit cards to gamble online.
* The implementation of technologies to protect against underage gamblers.
* Limits on deposits and losses.
* Detection of players who display excessive gambling habits.
* Prevention against cheating and fraud.
The news of the bill’s passage was naturally greeted with cheer by a number of groups in the United States, including the tireless Poker Player’s Alliance.
“The fact is, online poker is not going away,” said the Chairman of the Alliance, Alfonse D’Amato. “Congress has a choice – it can license and regulate it to provide government oversight and consumer protections, or our lawmakers can stick their heads in the sand, ignore it, and leave consumers to play on non-U.S. regulated websites in all 50 states. I’m glad the Financial Services Committee today overwhelmingly chose to act and protect Americans as well as preserve the fundamental freedoms of adults and the Internet.”
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· Written by Roger S · Filed Under Poker Gossip · Comments Off
