First move against US gambling ban
14th April, 2008
US Congressmen Barney Frank and Ron Paul have taken the first tentative steps towards unseating their country's Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement (UIGEA), which outlaws online casinos.
Included in the hugely controversial bill - passed in October 2006 - is the stipulation that all US financial institutions take measures to block internet casino gambling online payments that originate from US soil.
But under a philabustering bill penned by congressmen Frank and Paul, the department of treasury and federal reserve system would be prohibited from implementing any of the regulations laid out in UIGEA.
Mr Frank issued a statement late last week insisting that they were "impossible to implement without placing a significant burden on the payments system and financial institutions".
Commenting on the casino gambling proposal, Jeff Sandman of the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative endorses the proposal, adding that it was a "bold move, but a necessary one".
Critics have accused US lawmakers of violating civil liberties and wasting potential tax revenue by approving UIGEA.
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