October 2, 2008 — The Casino Gambling Web online news page is reporting today that Barney Frank's anti-UIGEA bill — which recently successfully cleared a House Finance Committee — will have to wait until next year before moving on to a full vote in the House or Senate.
The bill, officially called the Payment Systems Protection Act Bill, was originally scheduled to be voted on this week in the House. If approved by both the House and Senate (and then signed by the president), the bill becomes law, whereupon it will charge the government with officially defining what is and isn't legal regarding online gambling. The current act that defines the government's stance on the topic, the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006), is notoriously vague, and essentially charges financial institutions such as banks and credit card processors with the burden of enforcement.
"The full House was supposed to vote on the Bill this week," writes Terry Goodwin in the Casino Gambling Web article, "but the current state of Wall Street has taken precedent. That leaves Frank's Bill to be in waiting until the new year.
"Many things can change between now and when the Bill will be voted on. The upcoming election is expected to give Democrats a few more seats in the House, which could be a big indication into whether the Bill will pass or not.
"Frank has been pushing for the Congress to overturn the ill-advised UIGEA almost since its inception. The UIGEA was a vague attempt to make online gambling illegal, but instead, all it has done is create more confusion. … Frank's new Bill would make government create a list of what is legal online. Most likely, the only thing that will be outlawed by the new Bill will be sports gambling."
Click here to read Goodwin's article on CasinoGamblingWeb.com.