Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act Repeal Likely- 06-20-08

June 20 - The Mark up is an important step in the legal process involved in repealing a bill. Those involved in the industry are hoping that this will be the start of putting an end to what is seen as an un-enforceable and unreasonable bill.

The initiative started back in April by Representative Barney Frank and Ron Paul when they introduced H.R.5767, which has the purpose of repealing the UIGEA. The new bill makes regulation and player protection its main focus.

"Congress has studied the issue and heard from the financial services community and federal regulators that the current ban on Internet gambling is burdensome and doomed to fail. Now it is time for Congress to change course and find a way to protect the millions of Americans that are continuing to gamble online," said spokesman for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative, Jeffrey Sandman.

In a hearing on UIGEA that was conducted last month, most financial services representatives were unanimous in their opinion that UIGEA was almost impossible to implement. They stated the vagueness of the UIGEA on how it should be enforced as one of its main pitfalls. This only confirmed what UIGEA critics have said since its introduction.

Other countries are successfully regulating online gambling, which may further serve to loosen the grip that the grip of the U.S. government. Online gambling is a multi-billion dollar industry and with economic pressure in the US, regulation seems to be the only logical outcome.

H.R. 5767 will prohibit the Department of Treasury and Federal Reserve System from implementing any regulations contained in the UIGEA. This will pave the way towards regulation.

The Mark up phase is important as it creates the terms of reference for any new bill.