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Still, I don’t like how gung ho they are. People were guessing it wouldn’t be high priority, but they were trying to get a vote within days of it’s introduction…
So how many days are left AFTER the August recess?
SulkyGirl wrote:So how many days are left AFTER the August recess?Not sure, Sulky girl, but it should take us out to after Labor Day, and then election/re-election stuff takes hold.
I am confident that we will see a changing of the Guard – I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that the House will become a Democrat-majority after the election. The Senate will be real close.
If you are in the U.S. and are in this biz, voting Democrat is the ONLY way to go. A democratic Congress helps our cause immeasurably.
Rebublican-controlled Congress and Bush-League, are the kiss of death.
Just as I expected.
Dominique,
I’ll be your best friend forever, if you are right. I sure hope so. Still, lots of uncertainty and turmoil revolving online gambling, over the last week. Do you recall ever having such news items, with such visibility ?
It’s enough to drive one to drink (which I believe is still legal) !!
I honestly see no reason for celebration.
Within that article was a clear case of why companies will continue to pull away from US players … as it said …
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Backers of the legislation have hoped to push it through the Senate this month following the arrest in the United States of David Carruthers, the chief executive of BETonSPORTS, on charges of racketeering and conspiracy.
Carruthers is scheduled to appear at a hearing in U.S. District Court in Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday to determine if he must remain in jail until his trial.
—-
This action alone is enough to cause the withdrawals.
:whoa:Also:
The US Congress has passed a piece of legislation that is being debated on the grounds of censorship, civil liberties and morality. If passed by the Senate, freedom of speech and expression on the internet could take a turn for the worse, mirroring other countries that regulate and censor web-content to their citizens like the hard-line dictatorships of North Korea, Iran and China.
(PRWEB) July 18, 2006 — United States Representative James Leach, a Republican from Iowa, has sponsored a piece of legislation that is being debated on grounds of censorship, civil liberties, morality and many other fronts.
The legislation entitled, H.R. 4411 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, amends the federal criminal code to prohibit persons engaged in the business of betting or wagering from knowingly accepting credit, electronic fund transfers, checks, drafts, or similar instruments, or the proceeds of any other financial transaction in connection with unlawful Internet gambling.
The Act directs the Secretary of the Treasury and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to prescribe regulations to identify and block restricted transactions and transmissions of wagering information. It also grants financial organizations immunity from civil liability for blocking transactions which they reasonably believe are restricted.
The Act passed on July 11, 2006 by recorded vote: 317 – 93 (Roll no. 363).
The Concern
While many Americans don’t gamble online, H.R. 4411 is causing grave concern to many as it allows the government to tell the American public how to spend money on the internet, making it illegal on restricted web sites. Most importantly, it opens the door to the precedent of allowing the government to regulate and censor web content the American can view.Freedom of speech and expression on the internet could take a turn for the worse, mirroring other countries that regulate and censor web-content to their citizens like the hard-line dictatorships of North Korea, Iran and China.
The Paradox
To the big casinos like, 888.com and partypoker.com, H.R. 4411 means one thing, fewer customers.With an estimated fifty percent of all online gamblers residing in the United States, casinos could lose millions of players and billions in revenue.
But while the authorities try to squash online gambling in the USA it is becoming ever more popular as a form of entertainment on American television.
Ten years ago professional poker players were just gamblers, going through the motions of poker in their own established circles outside the eye of the mainstream.
Now, that’s all changed. Today you can watch such events as The World Poker Tour and World Series of Poker on CBS and ESPN and see your favorite poker players in everything from beer commercials to the promotion of online gaming sites.
While gambling is supposed to be illegal and even ‘dangerous’ according to many experts, American television networks glorify the poker player, giving birth to a new kind of glamour and celebrity. Even the likes of super star actors Ben Affleck and Tom Everett Scott have tried their hands at its allure. (But in all fairness Tom Everett Scott placed a remarkable 3rd in the World Poker Tour of 2003, beating some of the most renowned poker players in the world.)
As it becomes more and more illegal, it seems to have become more and more fashionable. Several times a week the American youth can turn on the TV and watch hundreds of thousands of dollars being won and lost on a single hand.
How will this affect the new hybrids of the gaming world that have popped up to continually push the evolution of entertainment on the internet?
The Fine-Line
Wager Island (http://www.wagerisland.com), Entropia (http://www.entropia.com) and the Multi-Player Role Playing Game, while very different from each other and from traditional gambling sites, still run on money and employ their own versions of a virtual economy, where money is traded for profit or loss.Entropia and Wager Island consider themselves entertainment portals that offer a virtual world as their service, the end result being that you either amass more money than you started with or you lose more.
Where does the US government draw the line?
The fate of H.R. 4411 is now in the hands of the Senate. Many feel that the popularity the bill received in the Congress could mean only one thing, that the Senate too will pass it. But then remember, the Congress also impeached President Bill Clinton.As it becomes more and more illegal,
How the heck does something become more illegal or more and more illegal? It’s either illegal or its not; there are not varying degress of legality.
As it stands now, there are no federal laws making online gambling illegal; however there are a few state laws which do so. Misleading others and ruling by fear is going to bring some to start bearing arms!
Sportsbooks, casinos and poker rooms are totally different creatures. I am so tired of reading and hearing people talk out of their asses.
axl wrote:How the heck does something become more illegal or more and more illegal? It’s either illegal or its not; there are not varying degress of legality.As it stands now, there are no federal laws making online gambling illegal; however there are a few state laws which do so. Misleading others and ruling by fear is going to bring some to start bearing arms!
Sportsbooks, casinos and poker rooms are totally different creatures. I am so tired of reading and hearing people talk out of their asses.
Lol!!! Well put! :laughing:
If you look at all the past votes, since 1998 (maybe earlier) they aren’t along party lines. Almost all bills have passed overwhelmingly. No matter who wins, the votes will continue.
We should all hope they continue along the track they have been taking over the years. That is each house votes overwhelmingly for a bill the contradicts the jurisdictional aspects of the other house’s bill. In other words, 2 bills that can’t be resolved in conference committee. This way the bill never becomes law and the politicians get to receive more money from competing gambling lobbyists.
This is definitely bad news that they are trying to push this thing to a vote in the Senate. So much for it languising at the bottom of the pile. Maybe we will be at war with another country or two after the August recess. That will surely keep the Senate busy enough to ignore this vote. Otherwise, it seems they will have plenty of time to fit it in before heading out on the campaign trail.
I really hope you are right Dom, but I’m fearful that the days of prohibition may be coming.
PS, go get your drink on before that gets taken away again too.
The “Doom Sayers” are forgetting about the court system (could drag out a few years) and world trade.
This has been going on since the 1990s. It’s just got more attention now because of 9/11. The key word to think about is enforcement – heck look at the EU!
What they will do is most likely regulate online gambling.Top aide corrects other aide, as Frist says he aims to push bill for vote before break. Of note, August 4 is when Senate break happens, and it is one month in duration (presumably til after Labor Day).
http://freeinternetpress.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=7693
Guys…..we have 6 months…..That’s it.
Here’s how it works for those of you outside the USA:
-* The bill passed the House of Representatives.
— Now it needs to go through a committee in the Senate (about 12 senators). This is considered a mere formality. Usually this gets through.
— Then it needs to pass the Senate. It has to pass THIS year (2006). OTHERWISE IT DIES…. THE BLACKBOARD IS ERASED AND THE CLOCK STARTS ALL OVER AGAIN.
Bills need to pass in the Senate and the House during the same 2 year session. The current session is 2004-2006.
Each year this industry grows more powerful in both dollars and political power. The worldwide online casino industry is RIGHT NOW doing the equivalent of 10% of all LAND BASED gaming revenue in the USA.
So there is ALOT of lobbying going on. And we have friends, like the Horse Racing Industry, which is trying everything it can to get out of its financial ruts. Online Horse Betting is approved in California. YouBet and other companies are ALL over the Senate lobbying.
Then there are state Lotteries, which see the money going to schools and other state funded things.
-PROBLEM: The only problem is the guy gunning for this bill is Senator Kyl. He is a very very sly and tricky politician. As the chairman of the “Technology and Terrorism Committee,” during 1999-2001 instead of watching out for terrorists, he spent his time trying to push a similar bill (the old ‘Kyl Bill’) through the Senate. He got it through with a vote of 3-0 back in year 2000.
But there are 100 Senators, you ask? Yes, there are. He waited until the Friday before Christmas when there were only 3 other Senators in the House. He made deals with them to approve certain bills. They called a quorum and the bill was passed 3 to nothing.
Back then, it never became law because the House never approved it in years 2000-2001.
What amazed me is that September 11 occurred on HIS watch. He was chairman of the Tech and Terrorism committee. John McCain (AZ) a very popular senator – hates this guy. And the State of Arizona RE-ELECTED him in 2004. Unbelievable.
But this guy is capable of pulling serious stunts. I imagine he will try the same tricks from 6 years ago. The lobbying needs to be VERY strong to stop him.
But if it is stopped before late December 2006 / early Jan 2007, then it is BOOM times for the online gaming industry.
Marc Lesnick
Conference Organizer
Casino Affiliate Convention
http://www.cac2006.com
September 14-15, 2006
Las Vegas
