Fighting H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act

[Westland Bowl]

One thing that could push this and other bills over the edge into passage is a big story like the Calvin Arye/Bodog situation. Perhaps he was not arrested and allowed to do his thing because his would be later useful for media/public relations purposes in order to get public support to ban online gambling to prevent would-be billionaires from making money from it. The timing is suspicious. "Create a (fake) problem in order to provide a (bad) solution"

[Cynthia777]

To top it all off... Abramoff's sentencing-

See: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...MPLATE=DEFAULT

(this page has a link to charging court documents)


The opponents of online gambling and those proposing bills to do so will (IMO) try to take the ball and run with it...

[managra]

What surprises me is that the general public (i.e. mainly non gamblers) and activists org have been staying quiet about this issue. Would have thought they would be turned off by the US Govt trying to impose censorship over the internet. As far as i know, other than gamblers no one is protesting this dangerous and treacherous development.

[Cynthia777]

I know we have another thread concerning the issue/fear of ISPs blocking gaming sites (and I've posted an update there as well)... but I'm posting here to demonstrate the irony of these two issues (prohibiting Internet gambling - somewhat "limiting" our freedom, and the stance that one or more Senators have taken (and I'm sure some House Reps. as well), on gaining and providing legislation for "Net neutrality".....

Please see the following link:


http://wyden.senate.gov/media/2006/P...ality_bill.htm

[Cynthia777]

Originally Posted by managra

What surprises me is that the general public (i.e. mainly non gamblers) and activists org have been staying quiet about this issue. Would have thought they would be turned off by the US Govt trying to impose censorship over the internet. As far as i know, other than gamblers no one is protesting this dangerous and treacherous development.

Managra ... please refer to my recent posts under the thread "ISPs Blocking Gambling Sites": http://www.casinomeister.com/forums/...he-usa-15.html

Apparently we do have support in this area, including companies such as Yahoo, E-Bay, and even some politicians...

[Agamemnon]

Don't know if people knew this, I haven't seen a relevant post

"AGs Ask Congress for Federal Legislation on Internet Gambling"

22/03/2006

Attorney General Drew Edmondson and the attorneys general for 48 other states yesterday asked Congress to help combat illegal Internet gambling.

In a letter addressed to U.S. House and Senate leaders, the attorneys general cite the need for a coordinated effort to fight the problem which ‘transcends state and jurisdictional boundaries and requires that all segments of the law enforcement community (state, federal and local) work together to combat its spread.”

Gambling is prohibited under Oklahoma law with some limited exceptions.

“It’s typically up to the legislature for each state to determine what is and is not legal concerning gambling,” Edmondson said. “But Internet gambling transcends state lines, and should be addressed federally.”

Edmondson said federal legislation clarifying the laws concerning Internet gambling could assist consumers and law enforcement.

“We think it’s illegal in Oklahoma to run one of these sites, and we think it’s illegal for Oklahoma consumers to gamble on the Internet,” Edmondson said. “But that’s not the case across the board. Congress should address the issue so there is no question about what the law says.”

Edmondson today also warned consumers that in addition to violating state law, Internet gambling poses a significant risk to consumers’ personal and financial information.

“These sites require consumers to give a credit card number to be able to play,” Edmondson said. “Who’s to say the person running that website won’t use that information to clean out your accounts?”

Things do not look very good.

This seems to be becoming more and more into a photo-op with people lining up to say "I was also there".

What I want to know is beyond the law and order vote Congress think they are getting, who is putting Corporate money behind this (as in not ethical evangelical movements)?

[Cynthia777]

I see what you're saying... and might I add, that with all the emphasis surrounding this in relation to the Abramoff scandal, I just hope that the sole focus is not only on "contributions" and funding in illegal forms of lobbying as a tool to "not pass the bill", but also an eye on monetary contributions used as persuasion TO pass this bill.

[sdaddy]

If there were some sort of reputable grassroots political organization fighting these prohibition bills, I would certainly donate to it. Maybe someone here knows of one?

[sdaddy]

So the U.S. Congressman and former House Majority Leader at the center of the controversy over the perceived nixing of previous internet gambling legislation announced his resignation today. I did not expect this.

Other than this removing a cosponsor to H.R. 4777, I'm not sure what effect, if any, this development will have on the bill. It's an interesting story on how hard and fast the politically powerful in Washington can fall, however.

[caruso]

It's ironic that while the anti-gambling lobby is not deprived of VALID evidence for their cause, they can't actually find any:

Who’s to say the person running that website won’t use that information to clean out your accounts?

Not exactly state-of-the-art, irrefutable, hard hitting evidence. Either these congressmen are clueless, or just totally lazy.