The Problem with the Ban on Online Gambling Bill
Oct 6th, 2006 by Brian A. Thomas
The ban on Internet gambling that I talked about before got passed; however, it ended up being attached to a port security bill rather then a military spending bill.
Here is the problem with the bill, beyond the fact it has nothing to do with port security and the need to make an amendment where bills must stand on their own and not be attached as riders. Rather then have 10 million American’s gamble at reputable, tax paying companies (not US based due to other silly laws), this forces them to gamble at black market gambling websites that may not pay out at all, or be scams to gain access to people’s private information. What was a controlled, reputable market suddenly has become a place for thieves to take advantage of others.
What happens when a state lottery decides it wants to have an online lottery? Using IP addresses, it can restrict it to people in the state. However, Federal law stops payments from being made, so there goes an opportunity for a state to expand it’s lottery.
Make no mistake. This bill is not in the interest of American citizens. This bill was passed to protect State Lotteries and the few legal casinos we have here in the United States. The casinos and lotteries stood to loose tons as people move to online gambling and they pushed hard to “protect” us from our uncontrollable selves. They paid off our legislators so their market could be protected. Just like brick and mortar stores are facing problems with online shopping sites like Amazon, the casinos and lotteries are not prepared to fight an Internet war. The move that would have actually protected us? Keep them legal, and allow them to be US based. Then, if they really wanted to restrict it, make it legal for them to be US based then say the banks can only pay to US based gambling companies. This would allow lotteries and US based casinos compete in the online market place.
