Latest Congressional Threat

[spang]

New bill would prohibit use of credit in Internet gambling

May 23, 2000
A new Congressional bill, if passed, would prohibit the use of credit in Internet gambling, thus eliminating the possibility of any wager involving the World Wide Web.

House Resolution 4419, known as the "Internet Gambling Funding Prohibition Act," was introduced by Congressman Jim Leach, an Iowa Republican. It is, according to the American Horse Council, intended to complement the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act introduced by Congressman Jon Kyle of Arizona. The Kyl/Goodlatte bill, however, includes exceptions for pari-mutuel racing, something the Leach bill does not.

The Leach bill would prohibit the use of credit in Internet gambling, as defined in such means of transferring funds as credit cards, fund raisers, checks, drafts, etc. Internet wagering is defined to include the placing, receiving or otherwise making of a bet or wager by "any means which includes the use, at least in part, of the Internet."

AHC said there is no exceptions for legal wagering in this bill except fantasy sports leagues. Even Indian lands are covered under the bill.

[j]

Leach's bill seems much savier (from a bureaucrat's point of view) than Kyl's, and I take its passage as a strong possibility.

So let's assume it's law, and I can get busted for posting up. And let's assume that there's at least token compliance by the credit card companies, banks etc. How will we arrange our payments then? I'm sure there are people thinking hard about this...

Also how much do people think the Leach bill would slow down business? Would it just slow down it's growth a bit? Or would it shrink the industry?

[Fedya Fussball]

Offshore Banks???

Transfering my money to offshore banks is my
investment perogative...

What will p i s s me off will be if the US government or any other government starts meddling into other countrys internal banking and starts applying pressure wanting to get transactional data.

I'm sure they apply this kind of pressure when narcotics and laundering are involved.

FF

[This message has been edited by Fedya Fussball (edited 05-24-2000).]

[auspice]

One problem which prevents the U.S. government from full compliance is the non-compliance of other countries. I live 3 hours from the Canadian border. Opening up a bank account and posting up through it would certainly circumvent any U.S. mandate on U.S. wire transfers. This noncompliance of other governments will allow a scheme to be "invented" allowing a flow of cash with no "trail" being reported to U.S.

[AussieVamp2]

some countries do have very strict laws on allowing money out, especially as far as sportsbetting goes - Cyprus and whatever you want to call Yugoslavia, etc., apparently, for examples - so it could happen

although lots of rich US guys, traders, whatever, would get very upset if it happened in America - so would lots of companies, you would think

[spang]

I really believe that this bill is a larger threat to the industry,than the Kyl bill.

One must wonder however,how on earth could it be enforced if passed. I suspect that watchdogs could find some larger transactions, but the smaller players would probably escape unharmed.