Barney Frank Bill

September 15, 2008

HR 6870 is scheduled to be marked up in the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday. The online gambling bill, which was introduced by Congressman Barney Frank, is one of five that they will be looking at starting at 1 pm.

The online gambling bill is called �Payment Systems Protection Act of 2008� and it prohibits the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve from enforcing the regulation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act or UIGEA. The crux of the bill says that they cannot enforce it except �to the extent as any such regulation pertains to wagering of the type that is prohibited under chapter 178 of title 28, United States Code (relating to professional and amateur sports protection).�

Basically the law stops all regulations except those that relate to online sports betting. This keeps the online gambling community in the clear for now. It suspends the regulations that are currently in place and then says that better regulations must be adopted instead. It says that even the term �unlawful internet gambling� is vague at best and that it should be better defined.

The bill has a co-sponsor, Republican Congressman Peter King. King is a Republican, which shows that online gambling goes across party lines. Frank continues to push his online gambling bill as he knows that online gambling is going to continue. His problem is that if it is going to continue, he wants to make sure that it is at least safe for those that are participating.

Frank is also looking out for the best interests of the banks. Right now if they process any payment from an online gambling institution, they are going to be held liable. He says that the government cannot put that on the banks and that the current regulations are unclear and unenforceable.




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