H.R. 21, designed for the prevention of the “use of certain bank instruments for unlawful Internet gambling, and for other purposes,” according to its own language, was passed by a voice vote in the House Judiciary subcommittee, decided the Committee’s chair, Republican Representative James A. Leach, of Iowa, who is also the sponsor of the bill.
H.R. 21 now goes to the full committee and, should it survive known opposition there, onward to the full house membership for consideration. The legislation, if approved by a majority in the House, and then in the US Senate and enacted into law, would prohibit banks, credit card companies and other Internet payment systems emanating from the United States from making payments for its costomers to online gambling sites.
The bill is known as “The Unlawful Internet Gambling Funding Prohibition Act.”
Another Republican, from the U.S. Senate, Senator John Kyl of Arizona, introduced a companion bill to his legislative chamber on March 18. His Senate bill would make it a crime to accept credit cards or electronic transfer funds as payment for debts incurred from Internet gambling. Kyl’s bill would also empower state and federal attorneys to at least request that court injunctions be issued to financial institutions and Internet service providers who transact Internet gambling through sites emanating outside the United States. Also, federal bank regulators would be able to create rules that would require financial institutions to block Internet gambling transactions that would be termed illegal, according to the bill.
“Federal law is currently unclear as to whether or not all types of Internet gambling is illegal. H.R. 21 is intended to make it crystal clear that operating a gambling business on the Internet is illegal,” said Representative Howard Coble, another Republican, from North Carolina, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security.
The U.S. Justice Department holds that existing laws, such as the 1961 Wire Wager Act, which specifically prohibits the use of telephones for placing sporting bets, are sufficient measures against Internet gambling. However, recently a federal appeals court ruled that it was “beyond the scope of the original law [the Wire Wager Act] to include placing a casino bet online.” The Kyl bill, if enacted, would challenge, at least in theory, any offshore online operation that evaded the net of the Leach bill or the Wire Wager Act of 1961.
Americans seem to be ignoring existing laws that are said to apply to Internet gambling. Online gambling sites went from about 20 in number in 1995 and totaled almost 2,000 in 2002, and in that year had an estimated turnover of $4 billion.!!!
H.R. 21 now goes to the full committee and, should it survive known opposition there, onward to the full house membership for consideration. The legislation, if approved by a majority in the House, and then in the US Senate and enacted into law, would prohibit banks, credit card companies and other Internet payment systems emanating from the United States from making payments for its costomers to online gambling sites.
The bill is known as “The Unlawful Internet Gambling Funding Prohibition Act.”
Another Republican, from the U.S. Senate, Senator John Kyl of Arizona, introduced a companion bill to his legislative chamber on March 18. His Senate bill would make it a crime to accept credit cards or electronic transfer funds as payment for debts incurred from Internet gambling. Kyl’s bill would also empower state and federal attorneys to at least request that court injunctions be issued to financial institutions and Internet service providers who transact Internet gambling through sites emanating outside the United States. Also, federal bank regulators would be able to create rules that would require financial institutions to block Internet gambling transactions that would be termed illegal, according to the bill.
“Federal law is currently unclear as to whether or not all types of Internet gambling is illegal. H.R. 21 is intended to make it crystal clear that operating a gambling business on the Internet is illegal,” said Representative Howard Coble, another Republican, from North Carolina, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security.
The U.S. Justice Department holds that existing laws, such as the 1961 Wire Wager Act, which specifically prohibits the use of telephones for placing sporting bets, are sufficient measures against Internet gambling. However, recently a federal appeals court ruled that it was “beyond the scope of the original law [the Wire Wager Act] to include placing a casino bet online.” The Kyl bill, if enacted, would challenge, at least in theory, any offshore online operation that evaded the net of the Leach bill or the Wire Wager Act of 1961.
Americans seem to be ignoring existing laws that are said to apply to Internet gambling. Online gambling sites went from about 20 in number in 1995 and totaled almost 2,000 in 2002, and in that year had an estimated turnover of $4 billion.!!!
