What’s next for Frank’s internet gambling bill?

Now that Congressman Barney Frank’s bill to authorize and regulate online gambling in the United States has been passed by the House Financial Services Committee, the committee he chairs, all kinds of questions are swirling about what the bill actually contains and what the future holds for the bill. Here are a variety of questions, some FAQ-style questions.

“PokerStars supports this provision in both amendments, as neither would adversely affect the provision of licenses by respected operators like PokerStars. As reflected in the legal opinion provided to PokerStars, PokerStars’ activities in the United States have been legal and always legal.”

Full Tilt has always argued that they are also acting legally in the United States. But that doesn’t change the fact that powerful forces are lining up against them. Despite the UIGEA’s passage, there is a Congress that is unhappy that many gaming companies have chosen to continue serving Americans.

In a tenuous moment, I think you can get some of UIGEA’s supporters to acknowledge that UIGEA is a weak banking law that hasn’t changed the legitimacy of online gambling in the United States. But that doesn’t change the fact that the message they were trying to send with this law is “online gambling illegal.” And they feel that the message has been ignored by the likes of PokerStars and FullTilt.

That said, while opponents of online gambling can admit they lost the fight to ban online gambling in the United States, they would face immense criticism if companies that ignored them were allowed to profit from the new licensing scheme. 안전놀이터 추천

It is the gambling monopolists who join the anti-activists who are trying to stop ‘bad actors’ from coming to America. This group does not want to share gambling profits with any interests abroad. And then you have foreign interests that, like Party Poker, are taken out of America when UIGEA is passed. It is in their interest to see ‘bad actors’ denied licenses, so they will lobby for it, too. Party Poker already has some friendly relations with the U.S. Treasury Department after voluntarily paying a $105 million fine last year as part of a non-prosecution agreement.

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