US players - do your bit!

[jetset]

FRANK CALLS FOR SUPPORT ON HR 2046 (Update)

House Financial Services Committee to hear statements on regulation of online gambling this Friday

Spokesmen for Congressman Barney Frank have again reminded the online gambling community that support for the Congressman's legislation seeking to regulate and license online gambling in the United States is important.

Kelly Larkin, the director of scheduling for Frank's House Financial Services Committee said that it could be "vital" for citizens who support the Congressman's proposal to contact their individual state political representatives to stress their support.

Frank's Bill HR 2046 the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act, proposing regulation and licensing is scheduled for a hearing by the Committee mid-morning this Friday (June 8) as previously reported by InfoPowa.

Larkin says that each call should be unique, explaining briefly how the sender feels. Emails should be original but brief and sincere. Larkin suggested that possible statements might cover the need to exclude problem or underage gamblers by regulating online gambling venues and insisting on adequate precautions as a prerequisite for a license in the USA. Opposition to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement and its inequalities may be another subject to address.

Exhaustive lists of US state representatives, together with full contact addresses are available at major portals such as Casinomeister.com and Casino Gambling Web.com.

Frank sent a letter to all congressmen this week explaining his bill, Larkin revealed, reiterating that voters calling before the meeting would be vital for getting representatives on board with regulation.

HR 2046 specifically aims to amend title 31, United States Code, by providing for the licensing of Internet gambling facilities by the Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing entitled "Can Internet Gambling Be Effectively Regulated to Protect Consumers and the Payments System?" on Friday, June 8 at 10 a.m.

The witness list for the hearing includes Howard Lederer, a member of the Poker Players Alliance Board of Directors, and Radley Balko, senior editor of Reason Magazine. Both have expressed strong opposition to UIGEA's and are in favour of regulating Internet gambling in the U.S.

Gerald Kitchen, CEO of SecureTrading, a UK-based Internet payment service provider, and Jon Prideaux, chief executive of Asterion Payments, will also speak during the hearing. SecureTrading's Web site claims that it is able to "virtually eliminate risks such as underage gambling, money laundering and abuse by organized crime and fraud against consumers."

Baptist minister Greg Hogan may testify. Hogan's son was the subject of a 2005 high media profile criminal case and is currently serving a sentence of imprisonment in Pennsylvania. He was found guilty of robbing a bank to pay off debts to his fraternity brothers who helped him fund Internet poker accounts.

The hearing will be the first Congressional discussion on Internet gambling since the UIGEA, which bans financial transactions with online gambling companies other than those "exempted" such as horse racing, state lotteries and fantasy sports, became law last October.

[jetset]

Release from the SSIGI:


WASHINGTON, June 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --

Top experts testified today before the House Committee on Financial Services and offered further evidence to Members of Congress that a regulatory framework for Internet gambling would protect consumers and ensure the integrity of Internet gambling financial transactions. Leaders in the fields of internet payment processing, identity identification and online safety described how existing systems and technology have proven successful in combating underage and compulsive gambling and protecting against money laundering, fraud and identity theft.

"It was made clear at today's hearing that online gambling can be effectively regulated," said Jeffrey Sandman, spokesman for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative. "Instead of prohibiting Internet gambling, which is futile, the government should regulate and tax Internet gambling to ensure proven and effective security controls are implemented to protect consumers and capture billions in revenue that is needed for critical government programs."

Today's hearing provided additional momentum by clearly demonstrating how regulated Internet gambling could protect against underage and compulsive gambling and ensure the integrity of financial transactions.

Combating Underage Gambling

Andrew Poole, Head of Online Services for GamCare, a charitable organization committed to addressing the social impact of gambling, provided testimony that a robust regulatory policy can combat underage gambling and manage the potential for harm through gambling online.

"We are satisfied that if the move towards more responsible operation continues to gather pace, as is increasingly observed across Europe and the rest of the world, that the continued legitimate development of the industry need not be off-set against significant increases in problematic gambling," said Poole. "Robust, formal regulatory frameworks undoubtedly represent the best opportunity for achieving this."

Addressing Compulsive Gambling

Keith Whyte, Executive Director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, the U.S. advocate for programs and services to assist problem gamblers and their families, discussed in his testimony the opportunity to use the technology and controls available on the Internet to combat compulsive gambling.

"Problem gambling is a serious and even life-threatening mental health disorder," said Whyte. "However, the graphical and interactive structure of the Internet provides a revolutionary opportunity to create informed consumers with access to a variety of information designed to encourage safe choices and discourage unsafe behavior. The technology also exists, unlike for other forms of gambling, to allow players and operators to set limits on limits on time, wagers, deposits, etc ... as well as to exclude themselves. Clearly gambling on the internet raises some difficult issues, but it provides theoretical opportunities for operators to deliver responsible gaming programs that meet or exceed current standards in the 'bricks & mortar' gaming industry."

Gerald Kitchen, Chief Executive of SecureTrading, a payment service provider specializing in the secure processing and settlement of Internet payments, offered in his testimony that concerns raised about Internet gambling are already being addressed by other countries through the implementation of specific systems and technology.

"The issue of compulsive gambling remains a significant challenge and the approach required to effectively combat this requires transparency and involvement from various stakeholders," said Kitchen. "Payment card holders can be offered the possibility to restrict their ability to gamble on the Internet by way of applying to be excluded via a self-exclusion program. When self-exclusion from Internet gambling is put into effect via the payments system, it becomes impossible for the person concerned to participate in any gambling on the Internet that uses traditional card payments through the payment processor."

Protecting Against Money Laundering, Fraud and Identity Theft

Jon Prideaux, Chief Executive of Asterion Payments and a former senior executive at Visa tasked with establishing rules, compliance programs and enforcement rules for the operation of Visa online payment systems, provided testimony that it is feasible to protect consumers in a regulated environment.

"On the basis of my experience I can unequivocally state that Internet gambling can be regulated, and that abuses can be effectively regulated and controlled," said Prideaux. "Regulation ensures that players get a fair deal and are not cheated. ... We owe it to people who have experienced problems with Internet gambling in the past to introduce a regulated environment where the proper protection can be provided to the vulnerable."

Clive Hawkswood, Chief Executive of the Remote Gambling Association, a trade association which represents the largest remote gambling operators and encourages social responsibility within the gambling industry, provided testimony that internet gambling can be regulated to protect the payment system.

"As with all other industries and sectors it (Internet gambling) is capable of control in order to prevent it being used as a source of crime," said Hawkswood. "Within the United States vast amounts of credit card transactions take place on a daily basis. The system is well established and well policed in order to counteract fraudulent and criminal transactions. The only circumstance in which crime can flourish is if the activity is unregulated."

Additional testimony

Expert testimony was also provided to the Committee by Radley Balko, Senior Editor of Reason Magazine and Michael Colopy, Senior Vice President, Communications, Aristotle, Inc.

Transcripts can be found at http://www.house.gov/apps/list/heari...ht060807.shtml.

Legislation recently introduced to regulate and tax Internet gambling has helped build support in Congress to allow Americans to gamble online. Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) introduced H.R. 2046 to establish a licensing and enforcement framework for regulated Internet gambling and Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA) introduced legislation that would tax online gambling companies and could generate between $6 billion and $25 billion in revenues in the first five years of enactment. These revenues could be used to fund important government programs.

Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative

[Mousey]

I've been scrambling trying to find video of the the hearing. I was stuck at work with no cable TV and no internet . Hopefully they'll have the transcript up early next week.

[jetset]

There's a somewhat more balanced report here:

http://www.casinocitytimes.com:80/ne...ntentID=166506

[footdr]

There is a big flaw in the Committe Hearing System" there is no way to contact a committee that is scheduled to hear testimony. Only contact allowed is via your own rep. or committee members website, if they do not block emails from outside their districts. Barney Frank will not allow emails from people outside his district.

Here is one of the emails I recieved from my REPRESENTATIVIES. The other Rep responded with the very same email. I promptly relied to both. Does anyone do their jobs anymore, I FEEL I AM IN THE TWILIGHT ZONE.

Senator Cornyn,

Thank you for your response . However, I am aware of the UIGEA of 2006.

My email was requesting that you support the legislation proposed by Chairman of the Financial Services Committe, Barney Frank.

There will be a hearing regarding the Bill he introduced on Friday, June 8, 2007 .

I do understand the Federal Governments concern regarding Internet Gambling, however, most testimony in support the 2006 UIGEA represented it as a moral issue. Also misrepresenting the extent of teen addiction and availability of these websites to teens. The problem is that to say it is a moral issue while continuing allow the public to waste billiions on State Lotteries, Land Based Casinos, Horse Racing, and Dog Racing makes it very apparent that the issue has to do with the fact that both State and Federal Government are not benifiting monetarily from online gaming.

The involvement of Teens, is grossly misrepresented. Their involvement is prohibitative from a financial standpoint and reputable online casinos require some form of Identification. While this Identification could be fake, young adults use fake I.D.'s to purchase lottery tickets, and gamble in land based casinos. Most people under 21, college and high school students, simply don't have the funds to gamble with. If they are using their parents credit cards, their parent is not acting responsibly.

Perhaps you should ban these credit card companies from targeting recent H.S. graduates and college students. I have boys 18 (2007 H.S. Grad)and 21(College), the mail box is full of these offers on a daily basis.

That is a huge problem. These companies are preying upon these young adults. They should not be allowed to extend credit to unemployed students without at least requiring a co-signer. Many of these kids are in financial debt due to college costs and these money hungry companies make matters worse. These companies know these young adults have no income to pay monthly payments.

Focus your attention on disallowing marketing of charge cards and check cards to students and those under 21, and these young adults will not have the financial ability to place bets.

If you can't stop the offers, make the debt unenforceable, the offers will stop

Same principle would apply to internet gambling, make the charges unenforceable if players dispute them, and allow banks to reverse the transactions making the merchant responsible, this along with the transactions being illegal, casinos will simply not want u.s players.And processors will not risk processing unenforceable transactions. I believe Australia passed this law.

Lastly, the UIGEA has had the opposite affect of its intent. . It is easy to deposit funds to casinos, but payment of casino account balances to players is near impossible. Since there was no grace period provided to withdraw these funds, casinos and ewallets have trouble returning the players funds. Millions of dollars are being held in casino accounts. Money that belongs to u.s. citizens. The casinos are benefiting from this law. The Act was suppose to prevent the public from from depositing money in casinos, but instead has caused many to lose thousands of dollars while allowing casinos to benefit by keeping these funds in casino accounts. I do not see how that is helping the U.S. public.

If possible can you please forward this email via the appropriate route to the Financial Services Committee or its Chairman, Barney Frank. Unfortunaltely Citizens have no direct link to all members of these committees as many only accept communications from their District.

Thank you,

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: SenateWebmail@cornyn.senate.gov
To: Subject: Thank You For Contacting My Office
Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2007 14:51:47 -0400


Dear

Thank you for contacting me about Internet gambling. I appreciate having the benefit of your comments on this matter.

Internet gambling websites operate primarily from foreign countries, even though the majority of customers are Americans. However, placing bets online violates state law; to date no state has authorized people located in the state to place bets with offshore websites. Federal laws also reinforce state gambling laws. The Illegal Gambling Businesses Act, the Travel Act, and the Gambling Devices Transportation Act all transform violations of state gambling laws into federal crimes.

In addition, an amendment was added to H.R. 4954 (the Security and Accountability For Every Port Act) that would prevent the use of certain payment instruments, credit cards, and fund transfers for unlawful Internet gambling, and for other purposes. The Senate and House passed H.R. 4954, and President George W. Bush signed it into law (P.L. 109-347) on October 13, 2006.

I appreciate having the opportunity to represent the interests of Texans in the United States Senate, and you may be certain that I will keep your views in mind as the Senate considers relevant legislation. Thank you for taking the time to contact me.

Sincerely,

JOHN CORNYN
United States Senator

Same response from Kay Bailey Hutchinson. Mind you may initial email was requesting their support for the Legistlation introduced by Barney Frank, I sited the bill number and mentioned the hearing.

Their responses are proof that our communications fall on deaf ears.

The other problem is that citizens should be able to contact the HOUSE committees direct. Who cares if what District we are in. These committees decisions affect citizens of all districts therefore they should accept comments of all citizens. I think I will try to contact the Clerk of the House of Representatives regarding this and see what the response is.

Also, when I looked up the witness list yesterday all of the people that are listed above in others posts were not listed on the witness list. So what gives?

[jetset]

Good on you for doing something constructive about your opposition to the UIGEA, footdr.

I think that Frank's appeal to players was motivated by the need for fellow politicians to see that there is substantial resentment toward the UIGEA from the citizenry, and by writing your representatives you have contributed to that. Nothing wakes up a politician more than voters showing an interest in something he or she can turn to political advantage LOL!!!

I also believe that Frank is trying to draw the attention of often busy and distracted politicians to his effort to regulate and license online gambling, and that is at least partly his reason for running this and reportedly future hearings. This one is certainly generating a lot of mainstream media coverage already.

[Mousey]

There is a big flaw in the Committe Hearing System" there is no way to contact a committee that is scheduled to hear testimony. Only contact allowed is via your own rep. or committee members website, if they do not block emails from outside their districts. Barney Frank will not allow emails from people outside his district.

Here is one of the emails I recieved from my REPRESENTATIVIES. The other Rep responded with the very same email. I promptly relied to both. Does anyone do their jobs anymore, I FEEL I AM IN THE TWILIGHT ZONE.



Same response from Kay Bailey Hutchinson. Mind you may initial email was requesting their support for the Legistlation introduced by Barney Frank, I sited the bill number and mentioned the hearing.

Their responses are proof that our communications fall on deaf ears.

The other problem is that citizens should be able to contact the HOUSE committees direct. Who cares if what District we are in. These committees decisions affect citizens of all districts therefore they should accept comments of all citizens. I think I will try to contact the Clerk of the House of Representatives regarding this and see what the response is.

Also, when I looked up the witness list yesterday all of the people that are listed above in others posts were not listed on the witness list. So what gives?

With a all the emails I've sent... I've received very few replies... and the replies I've received from my down-home bible belt representatives are in the same generic vein as the one you quoted -- although a little more sanctimonious.

"It is a mushrooming epidemic, leaving in its wake suicide, crime, financial and family tragedy," Alabama Rep. Spencer Bachus, the ranking Republican on the Financial Services Committee, said of Internet gambling. "There is no compelling reason to change the course that Congress wisely charted last year."

It's frustrating, it's maddening, and it makes me want to tear my hair out because NO ONE LISTENS when we (citizens/voters) speak!!

[dhayman]

This talk of repeal will go round and round for years, before anything is potentially done. Look how long it took for UIGEA to be passed - Congress was trying for something like this for many, many year. The same will hold true for repeal.

Additionally, with the current regime in place, there will be no way that anything even gets voted on until after the 2008 presidential election. After a Democrat is elected to the White House, serious discussions will commence, and even then, it will take several years before anything gets done. My prediction is 2011 or 2012, at the earliest, if at all.

It is much harder to unwind enacted legislation than it is to pass it, even if the legislation is ludicrous and was enacted deceptively. That is just the way it works.

Until then, UIGEA will be virtually un-enforeceable. The DOJ, with Bush firmly planted behind them, will continue with their raids and subpoenas, to intimidate.......their intimidation tactics have actually been a very effective way to "implement" UIGEA, and scare the general public. Once the 2008 elections are in the book, things will return to relative normalcy.

1.5 more years of this regime left.............really hard to believe that Bush, Cheney, and the rest of this inept bunch, have had a run for this long.

[lots0]

Their responses are proof that our communications fall on deaf ears.

@footdr
I have been inside the political system for a long time, I can tell you that your opinion has been counted and cataloged, even if you if only receive a stock response letter.

Thats why Congress has Interns. Unlike Clinton's use of his Intern, most of congress uses their Interns for tedious office tasks, like reading constituent mail and email.

The Interns usually quickly look over your letter/email to decide, what issue you are concerned about and if you are positive or negative (according to them) on the issue. All this info is then entered into a data base. So I guess what I am trying to say is even though it ain't very personal, your opinion usually gets counted.

One last thing, you may not be able to email Frank, if you don't live in his State. But no matter where you live you can send him a snail mail or pick up the phone and call his office or you can FAX him ( 508-999-6462 Fax:508-999-6468 ) All three of which, carry far far more 'weight' with a Congressman than an Email does.

[silcnlayc]

Bill to legalize online gambling is off the table
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Sabrina Eaton
Plain Dealer Bureau
Washington- A bill that would legalize and regulate many forms of Internet gambling will be put on hold while its author, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, attempts to draw a better political hand.

"There are more votes for my position now than there were a year ago, but there aren't yet enough," Frank said after a hearing at which Barberton minister Greg Hogan Sr. described how his son, Greg Jr., robbed a bank to pay Internet poker debts.

Frank, who believes the current ban on Internet gambling interferes with Americans' personal freedoms, says he won't push the bill through his committee until he thinks it could pass the full House of Representatives.

Financial experts at the hearing delivered conflicting reports on whether gambling Web sites can weed out patrons who are underage or live in states where gambling is illegal. Republican legislators who attended, including Steve LaTourette of Concord Township, expressed opposition to the bill.

Hogan, who lives in Hudson, listed his son's achievements, which included playing at Carnegie Hall piano recitals and being elected president of Lehigh University's sophomore class, before describing his descent into addiction and the Hogan family's futile efforts to stop it. Greg Jr. is now serving a 22-month prison sentence.

"Because Greg fell victim to Internet gambling's illusions of quick riches and a shortcut to his dreams, his dreams are in ashes today," Hogan told the committee. "Please refuse this bill, because if we open the door to any type of Internet gambling, we are allowing our college and high school students to play Russian roulette."

http://www.cleveland.com/world/plain...330.xml&coll=2