US Lawmakers Call For Delay In Internet Gambling Law
By: Ainsley Brown
How do you enforce a law that doesn’t make clear what is to be enforced?
Well, this is the dilemma facing US regulators, namely the Department of Justice, the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department, when the internet gambling law comes into force on December 1. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, part of the Security and Accountability For Every Port Act of 2006, seeks to prohibit the transfer of funds from financial institutions to online gambling sites – with a few exceptions for such things as horse racing, online lotteries and fantasy sports.
These exception are a reflection of a greater legislative flaw. The Act seeks to regulate, as the words “Unlawful” in its title indicates, unlawful – that is already illegal – forms of betting over the internet. The law however does not modify the Federal Wire Act – the main US legislation that regulates interstate and international betting. It only applies, as the definition of Unlawful internet gambling makes clear, to activities that are already illegal under Federal or State law.
The law does not create new unlawful gambling activities, it simple enforces existing law. And as the ruling in Re Mastercard International makes explicit, the Federal Wire Act does not apply to all forms of gambling but is limited to sporting events. Therefore, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act would presumably not apply to online poker or other online casino games.
It is this lacuna that has led lawmakers, such as The US House Financial Services Committee Chairman, Barney Frank, to call for the law to be delayed until December 2010. This call follows concerns that were expressed by the Federal Reserve and Treasury a year ago.
