Online Casino Figurehead
The movement in the United States, toward the legalization of internet gambling,
has been growing increasingly stronger over the past several years. The UIGEA
passed in late 2006 and since that time several key politicians and interests
groups have taken on the online casino gambling industry as a pet cause.
Congressman Barney Frank is the best known of the US supporters on the federal
level. In fact, Congressman Frank’s efforts have really been the backbone of the
current US efforts to repeal the UIGEA and instead license and regulate offshore
online casinos within the US market. Frank’s bill is currently the strongest
pro-internet gambling proposal on the table and although any sort of action for
this bill has continually stalled, there is a strong hope that new legislation
will pass within the year.
Frank’s proposal is essentially a bill that would introduce fully legalized
online casino gambling into the United States. The US federal government would
fully regulate the industry based on working regulatory models in the UK and
Europe right now, and then also develop a full licensing structure for the
market that would ensure that only the top end gaming sites were finding legal
purchase in the US. This legislation is considered not only progressive and
liberal, but also desperately needed. The inherent flaws within the UIGEA,
coupled with international research that points to the fact that regulation and
licensing is the only way to fully control the market has led to a strong
movement in the US media and public toward regulating the online casinos.
Barney Frank’s bill is the US’ key choice right now for alternative online
casino gambling legislation and a lot of eyes are closely watching as Frank
continues to find co-sponsors and more political support for his anti-UIGEA
proposal. |