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House Passes Anti-Online Gambling Bill
On Tuesday, members of the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that seeks to ban online poker and other forms of Internet gambling. The lawmakers voted 317-93 in favor of approving a bill that would prohibit banks and credit-card companies from paying off the wagers in online gambling.
U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., one of the bill's chief sponsors, prior to the passing of the vote, said that the legislation could help 'purge the smear on the Congress' left by disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Abramoff lobbied against the proposed bill in 2000 on behalf of an online lottery company, but this year's version likewise exempts state-run online lotteries and horse-racing.
The final chance for the online gambling industry in the U.S. is if it is able to intercept the passed legislation in the Senate, before it could become law. However, the supporters of the law are quite positive that all the push they need is contained in the majority vote on the House.
About 70 million Americans play poker and almost a third of this number play poker online, according to the Poker Players Alliance. These are the just some of the gamblers that would be affected should the bill become a law.
The PPA has lobbied against the bill, calling on concerned poker players to write their respective representatives. The PPA argues that the bill is an infringement on Americans' personal freedoms, because it would require bank and credit card companies to monitor their cardholder's transactions.
Wednesday, October 04 , 2006
Edward O'Connor