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DEVAL BILL CRITICISED BY iMEGA (Update)

Internet gambling ban "another unconstitutional infringement of Americans' digital rights."

The feisty Internet Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA) has joined the growing number of critical voices against a bid to ban online gambling on pain of severe penalties in the state of Massachusetts (see previous InfoPowa reports).

The proposed legislation, which is ironically contained within a bill that seeks to expand land casino gambling in the eastern state, has been submitted by Massachusetts governor Patrick Deval but has come in for heavy flak and extensive media coverage centred on its hypocrisy and felony level penalties. The proposal will not be voted on until 2008, according to political observers.

Edward Leyden, President of iMEGA suggests that the governor holds fire until the results of iMEGA's clash with the Department of Justice over the constitutional legality of UIGEA are available.

"This past Saturday, The Boston Globe reported that casino legislation filed by Gov. Deval Patrick contained a provision to ban online gaming," said Leyden. "The proposed law, which would criminally punish conduct carried out by Massachusetts residents on the Internet, would be another unconstitutional infringement of Americans' digital civil rights.

"Currently iMEGA is embroiled with the Department of Justice in litigation in federal court over the constitutionality of the Unlawful Internet Gaming and Enforcement Act, a bill that [effectively] banned most Internet gaming nationally. We believe our lawsuit will result in an affirmative recognition by a federal court of the existence of fundamental privacy and associational right to communicate and interact with others via the medium of the Internet in a manner similar to communication and interaction outside of the Internet.

"As this case makes it way through the legal system, we believe that it would be best for the Massachusetts legislature to forestall action on this provision and, if, as we expect, a preliminary injunction is issued in iMEGA v. DOJ, et al., legislators should remove this provision from the legislation."