Online Gambling Bill Advances

June 10, 2009

With Rep. Barney Frank�s bill finally hitting Congress and seemingly moving at a good pace, many feel that it is just a matter of time before online gambling is legal. The bill that Frank has been working on would repeal the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act or UIGEA and regulate and tax online gambling instead.

There have been other attempts at this kind of online gambling legislation, but with a new administration in there many think that this will finally work. The online gambling legislation would allow licensed online gambling operators to take wagers from players in the US and supporters say that this bill would bring in somewhere around $6 billion annually.

Social conservatives are still battling against the online gambling bill, but with so many Americans still for legalizing the industry it would seem that this is the year to get legislation passed. The land based casino industry is against it as well for they think that if online gambling is legalized they will lose money, which they probably will.

For their part, the online gambling industry says that people are doing it anyway, so why not legalize it and make it safe for those who are participating. They say that they have tried prohibition and have lost out on a lot of money, so they should change their tactics and bring in money for the government instead. They say that people are simply using off shore accounts to play online gambling, so why not make it safer and make a profit?

Back to June 2009 Archive.