Online Gambling Could Be in Frank�s Hands

May 15, 2009

Much emphasis was put on the unveiling of Congressman Barney Frank�s new bill, and all the major newspapers and news stations were covering it. They discussed the regulation of the online gambling industry, and they talked about how this would help the US with income and safety issues. They talked about how long they had waited for the bill. They talked about everything except the additional piece of legislation that Frank proposed which could actually prove to be more important in the short term.

Frank also sent forward the Reasonable Prudence in Regulation Act, which would stop any further movement of the UIGEA, and would allow online gambling to be studied and examined without the added pressure of the regulations that were set forth in the initial bill. Many felt that the online gambling regulations that were hastily added and passed at the end of the last administration were simply a throw together list of things that they wanted to see get done without any real thought put into them.

The banks and financial institutions were upset because it really put the crux of online gambling on their heads and if they did not enforce the will of the administration that they would be held legally responsible. This worried them because they felt that the regulations were not put forth in a manner that even made them reasonably enforceable.

They currently have until December to enforce the rules and regulations, but this new bill would stop that. This way if the main bill takes a while to pass they have the ability to pass the smaller bill which would buy the banks some time to get their ducks in a row and find out exactly what would be expected of them should the regulations hold.




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