H.R. 2267: Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act, 2009. http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h2267ih.txt.pdf 

In May 2009, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass) resurrected a bill similar to one he was unable to pass in the previous congress. HR 2267, or the Internet Gambling Regulation Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act, “would establish a federal regulatory and enforcement framework under which Internet gambling operators could obtain licenses authorizing them to accept bets and wagers from individuals in the United States.” Currently slated for the September session, many poker players are betting that this bill will finally legalize their Internet gambling. One of the other two bills that join HR2267 is HR2266 (Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act) with the purpose of framing the regulation and taxation of this new enterprise; namely, “a 2 percent fee (i.e. federal tax) on all deposits.” The third counterpart, the Reasonable Prudence in Regulation Act, is the last ditch effort to stall the UIGEA, which calls for a one-year delay in date for compliance.

In Frank’s own words, “The government should not interfere with people's liberty unless there is a good reason. This is, I believe, the single biggest example of an intrusion into the principle that people should be free to do things on the Internet. It's clearly the case that gambling is an activity that can be done offline but not online.” Most advocates point to the revenue stream this bill would create, while opponents argue “legalized online gambling is a ‘clear danger to our youth’ and encourages gambling addiction at a young age.” However, Frank’s response to this claim is “The notion that a society should prohibit something entirely because of the possibility that children will abuse it is a terrible blow to liberty.” The authors have stressed that the bill includes safeguards to prevent underage or compulsive gambling and protect consumers who gamble online.

Until the bill comes to session, lobbying efforts have been promised by the Poker Players Alliance that include a $3 million campaign. HR2267 moves contrary to the traditional prohibitive stance the government has taken to online gambling. In an economic downturn, it’s no surprise that novel revenue streams become more appealing, which makes passing the Internet Gambling Regulation Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act a no-brainer. According to Harrah's Entertainment's senior vice president of communications and government relations Jan Jones, "We really believe this industry already exists. It just exists in a wild west setting. If you say you care about protecting children and fraud and money laundering, then the only way you can put those protections in place is to put in a strong regulatory frame."

Public Law 109 - 347 - Security and Accountability For Every Port Act of 2006 or the SAFE Port Act: H.R. 4954 (S. 2008) (S. 2459) http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_bills&docid=f:h4954enr.txt.pdf

Although the SAFE Port Act was mainly an anti-terrorism bill, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was tacked on at the last moment. The entire package was passed at midnight on the day Congress adjourned for the 2006 elections. Very few of the representatives had a chance to review the full bill and the UIGEA portion was not even included in the original SAFE Port Act passed by the Senate. The UIGEA was indeed a resurrection of the HR4411 IGPEA that failed in 1999 but several portions had been scrapped, namely any text relating to the Wire Act. Even though the UIGEA was signed into law in 2006, its provisions were marked for “notice of proposed rulemaking” that delayed any real legitimacy to the act until final regulations were released November 12, 2008 to become effective January 19, 2009. Additionally, due to the complicated enforcement issue the UIGEA placed on payment processors, compliance was not required until December 1, 2009. So even though the Bush administration had successfully passed an anti-gambling via the Internet bill, it took over three years to become effective, under a new administration that could possibly overturn the law.

While this bill does not expand the Wire Act provisions, it does add language to cover “interactive computer services” which obviously refers to the Internet. The real problem with the UIGEA is that it declares “unlawful Internet gambling” is illegal, but never defines Internet gambling. In an attempt to target poker and casino-style games specifically, the language expands on what is considered a bet or wager to include “games subject to chance.”  However, poker enthusiasts and advocates claim that poker is a game of skill and not chance.

UIGEA does affirm that one should ignore intermediary computers and look to the place where the bet is made or received. However, the main purpose of the bill is to force the financial institution to become watchdogs over transactions. This reason alone is why banks heavily lobbied against the bill. While the long-term consequences are yet to be seen, the immediate effects resulted in Neteller and several other prominent payment processors to unilaterally stop serving the gambling community. Of course, other processors gladly stepped up in this vacuum alongside poker sites utilizing workarounds through phone cards and other innovative approaches.

This project looks at the legislative history surrounding gambling over the Internet. Although gambling has been a part of human culture throughout the ages, several countries have attempted either to regulate or prohibit this behavior. Traditionally gambling took place in brick-and-mortar establishments where local law had clear jurisdiction; however, since the advent of the Internet gambling has moved into the borderless territory of cyberspace. A majority of this project evaluates recent attempts within the United States to enact legislation surrounding online gambling. Namely I will outline how the government's first attempt, retroactively invoking the 1961 Wire Act, remained weak in its ability to prohibit online poker until the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) made the processing of payments for online gambling illegal. Currently there is legislation slated for September 2009 that would repeal the UIGEA and move to regulate and tax rather than prohibit online gambling.