Senate bill calls for regulating, not banning, online poker

[BingoT]

Senate bill calls for regulating, not banning, online poker

By TONY BATT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON -- The effort to roll back an Internet gambling ban has reached the Senate, with a bill by Sen. Robert Menendez that calls for licensing and regulating online poker and other "games of skill" instead of outlawing them.

Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, intends to introduce the bill today, according to the Poker Players Alliance, which lobbies against the 2006 ban.

This would be the first bill introduced in the Senate to weaken the ban, which prohibits banks and credit card companies from accepting payments for online gambling.

The Senate bill's introduction follows a 30-16 vote on Sept. 16 by the House Financial Services Committee that would require federal agencies to define unlawful Internet gambling before completing regulations to enforce the ban.

"This action by Senator Menendez is yet another example that prohibitions on Internet gambling, and specifically poker, will not work to protect consumers," former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, R-N.Y., who is the chairman of the Poker Players Alliance, said in a statement.

The Menendez bill is similar to legislation introduced in June 2007 in the House by Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla.

Wexler's bill has 22 co-sponsors, including Reps. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., and Jon Porter, R-Nev.

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau reporter Tony Batt at tbatt@stephens media.com or 202-783-1760.

[wagon596]

thats the good news now the bad news,,, KY judge rules that domain names fall under state law and that the 142 gambling sites thru out the world must block KY players or the state will take control of the domain names. how in the hell they can do this is a threat to our rights as American citizens. i'm a vet and i'm ashamed of the way our goverment is controling our lives. i did not serve my country to be treated like a child.

thanks for the rant
take care

[Arjonius]

America, land of the free... free to do what various politicians' and judges' personal agendas let you do. Since I'm Canadian, what I fear is that this country will follow the US' *ahem* "leadership" in this ares.

[SystEmsuX]

Generally, this seems to be along the lines of what I was thinking--regulation rather than outright restriction.

Originally Posted by Arjonius

America, land of the free... free to do what various politicians' and judges' personal agendas let you do. Since I'm Canadian, what I fear is that this country will follow the US' *ahem* "leadership" in this ares.

Crap, don't let that happen. Or else I'll have to move to Europe or Australia to play. Minnesota is right next door to Canada, and I shouldn't have to cross oceans!