Online Gambling Industry Could See Relief

[Mousey]

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[lots0]

I did a little checking up on Judge Mary L. Cooper.

Looks like we could have done a lot worse.

 

[SKUNX]

UPDATE !!!!

I know i said I wasnt gonna be around but its my duty to inform

Gambling911.com had an opportunity to sit down with Joe Brennan Jr., the man behind the Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association, a grass roots organization that is seeking an injunction against the enforcement of the "Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006" (UIGEA).

As a quick run down, the UIGEA holds banking institutions responsible for coming up with a system to prevent the processing of payments to online gambling businesses. The banking institutions had 270 days to come up with a plan, converse about these plans and make any necessary changes. That 270 day period is supposed to be up by mid-July. This request for an injunction essentially will temporarily stop the banks from having to enforce whatever policies may have been created over the past few months until the courts can hear all arguments against the UIGEA. Assuming the IME&GA's request is accepted by the court (the chances are very good that it will be), then that looming mid-July deadline date basically gets extended.

There is reason to be hopeful here as the IME&GA's efforts extend far beyond that of just Internet gambling. Google, YouTube and other big name websites could eventually become highly sought after targets of the US government fringe groups should the UIGEA policies ultimately come into law.

"This law (the UIGEA) will cause problems for the entire Internet," insists Brennan.

He points to the idea of a small group of individuals with strong moral convictions having success with a ban on Internet gambling will open a whole new can of worms.

"iGaming has implications for Internet technologies going forward. If Jon Kyl (Arizona Senator and co-author of the UIGEA) was serious about protecting minors, he needs to rely on technology, not a blatant law that removes the mechanisms of problems they (the politicians) want to solve."

Not surprisingly, Brennan was among the most highly received speakers at this week's Global Interactive Gaming Summit & Expo held in Montreal, Quebec. The actions of IME&GA seeking an injunction in US courts were first reported by Gambling911.com this past Tuesday and the reaction from online gamers was overwhelmingly positive, but not without a degree of suspicion.

Questions remained as to who was behind this initiative.

"We are not a front for any online gambling company," Brennan points out.

Brennan had gathered a number of his colleagues together after reading the text of the UIGEA and determining "This is clearly unconstitutional". He immediately realized the slippery slope and the larger issue this would present over the long haul.

"The Association wants to focus broadly. We won't be a one issue association. It just happens that iGaming is the hot topic right now. iGaming has implications for Internet technologies going forward."

Edward Layden, President of the IME&GA will be appearing at a hearing in Washington Friday regarding Congressman Barney Frank's attempts to get the UIGEA repealed (though some would argue that Frank's efforts fall short of any type of repeal).

Layden represents an important piece to this puzzle. While he is publicly appearing at the scheduled hearing Friday, Layden will not be publicly testifying at that time. Instead, he has two weeks to provide written expert testimony. This will then be entered into the Congressional register.

As for some of the secrecy surrounding this trade group, Brennan explains that they determined early on that everything had to be done "low key" in order to get into the court system without tipping anybody off, primarily the US Justice Department.

"We wanted to keep everything quiet. If the US Justice Department had found out about this, they might have accelerated the process. The DOJ may have begun targeting those involved. It was a strategy to get into court without tipping the DOJ."

And for an industry so frazzled by recent DOJ initiatives, keeping a low profile was essential, so too was the need for privacy.

"We are a 501 (c) 6 trade organization," Brennan explains. "This (classification) gives the association an opportunity to have standing to lobby on behalf of our members and to maintain their privacy."

Brennan fears that if the UIGEA is allowed to stand as is, with the potential for absolute enforcement, the United States will severely lag behind other nations when it comes to online development (think China).

"We (the Association) understand there are problems that must be recognized such as underage gambling, but there are ways to get rid of this instead of relying on draconian laws that will only exasperate problems, especially when it comes to fraud and addiction."

The request of an injunction to immediately stop the process of determining UIGEA provisions was filed this past Tuesday. The Court has assigned a federal judge and magistrate with a set date of hearing to still be determined, though Brennan expects this to be scheduled very shortly.

"We want a quick hearing," Brennan said.

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Related Articles:

Google, YouTube Should Fear Ramifications of UIGEA

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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com

Originally published June 7, 2007 8:10 pm ET