Casino Webmasters Battle Goodlatte's Anti Internet Gambling Legistlation
Following the suggestion of a bill that prohibits certain types of online gambling, the GPWA (Gambling Portal Webmasters Association) is starting a campaign that centers in fighting the proposed act and preventing it from being passed.
This anti-gambling bill will never pass, says Ken Blechdom, president of http://www.onlinecasinos.cd, a gambling entertainment and information web site.
"The bill has been rejected many times before", he says, "it will never have enough votes to pass. prohibition didn't work in the 20's for alcohol, and it will not work for gambling."
The GPWA is trying to organize support for their lobby against this act, which they say is making the government excide it's jurisdiction. An example of this is found in a petition published through onlinecasinos.cd, which is trying to help prevent the new internet gambling legislation.
The bill was suggested in the middle of February by U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, a known lobbyist against online gambling. This act follows a similar attempt that had been made by Goodlatte back in July of 2000 and did not pass.
If accepted, Goodlatte's bill would expand the U.S. Wire Act of 1961, which prohibits gambling over telephone wires.
This law had passed before the internet was first used, and has since been used several times to help legislate laws against online gambling in the past decade. Online gambling legislation has been defeated a few times before in the past decade, and as a result, it has occupied a sort of legal void.
Goodlatte's bill tries to make the following changes concerning online gambling:
- Prohibition of internet gambling - Prohibition of all forms of interstate gambling and Internet technologies used in the activity.
- No gambling with credit - The bill prohibits gambling enterprises from accepting certain forms of payment, including credit cards, checks, and wire and Internet transfers.
- Penalty increase - The bill increases the prison term penalty for violation of this act from two to five years.
- Broaden definition of gambling - The bill defines a bet or wager to include sports betting, lotteries, table games such as roulette and card games such as poker.
Online gambling legislation has been defeated several times in the past decade, but these latest attempts made by Goodlatte drew attention because of the support Goodlatte received from 115 co-sponcers from the US house of representatives who are supporting Goodlatte's cause.
Aaron Cummings - PR/Publications
Monday, March 2006