|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
::::::
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Online Blackjack News - New Bill Introduced Leglizing Gambling
|
|
A bill that has been brought before Congress seeks to legalize internet gambling, and has American companies poised and on edge, as they wait to capitalize on the new, potentially huge market. The Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act was introduced by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., in April.
The proposed bill seeks to reverse the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act which was passed by Congress last year, banning internet gambling in the United States by prohibiting American banks and credit cards from processing payments to and from online gaming sites.
Indeed, it is doubtful whether there was any political game in which the stakes were higher. The new bill would set up a framework for the government to legalize, license, regulate and tax Internet gambling. The bill would also set up safeguards to prevent underage and compulsive gambling, as well as money laundering and fraud.
The way that the bill was passed in Congress last year was due mainly to terrorists, as the official reason that the Act was passed was to prevent terrorists from laundering money via online gambling sites. Few members of Congress, it turns out, would vote to beef up port security before an election, and so the legislation passed easily.
Now, with the Democrats in control of Congress, Representative Frank wishes to repeal the law. Supporting him are the credit card companies and the banks, who have become internet watchdogs in recent years. Policing the internet, banks and credit card companies are forced to determine which e-transactions involve online gambling and then blocking them.
Those banks and credit card companies have made numerous campaign contributions to Frank over the course of his 14 terms in Congress. If Internet gambling is legalized, not only will banks and credit card companies no longer have to block online gambling transactions, they'll be able to process them and profit from them.
Under the proposal, American companies for the first time could legally set up Internet casinos, run them from the United States and accept U.S. customers. Corporations that currently run land-based casinos in Las Vegas and elsewhere will likely be among the first to jump into the new industry, casino officials said, but they won't be the only ones.
Indeed, it is expected that most of the big companies in the United States would jump on that band wagon, should internet gambling become legal.
Even a company as family-oriented as Disney could get involved in opening an Internet casino. Disney has certain beliefs about its core brand structure that could prevent it, but they could always create a sub-brand, as they do with their movie company Touchstone Pictures (which produces R-rated movies).
MGM Mirage owns and operates about a dozen major Las Vegas casinos, including MGM Grand, Mirage, Monte Carlo, Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, Luxor and Treasure Island. MGM Mirage previously operated an Internet casino from the Isle of Man in the British Isles, from 2001 to 2003, that was open to people in every country but the United States. The casino failed because of that ban. 70 percent of the global online wagering market is from the U.S
|
| Source:
Blackjack2002 News Staff
| Sunday, 22 July 2007 |
Related Articles
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Directory LinksThe new and improved Blackjack 2002 directory is currently in development. If you are interested in adding your link, just click on Add Links button.
Add Link
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright © 2002-2008. All rights reserved.BLACKJACK2002.com |
|
