Well President Bush signed the Port Security Bill which not makes it illegal for US Banks to transfer money to online gaming sites. I've followed a lot of the debate and I have a few comments:
1. Do not blame Republicans for this? This is the work of a few congressmen and Senator Bill Frist (R). Let's just say that even though I'm a die-hard Republican, I will work to ensure that Bill Frist is not our presidential candidate. Lord help us.
2. President Bush is not at fault. The gaming portion of this bill was added one at the last minute and without debate. The President had the choice of either appeasing poker players or protect us from terrorism. The choice is clear, our security is more important than my ability to play poker online.
3. There are a few open questions. Is a poker site considered a gambling site? I've discussed this before - http://www.mypalal.com/poker/christianPoker.cfm But my position is that in its true form Poker is a game of skill not of luck. You can make a living playing the game, but it requires hard work. Many people will great poker as a quick way to make it big. In this case the individual is treating poker as gambling. With that exception it's a game of skill, like playing $100 to enter a softball league in hopes of winning a trophy. It's not illegal. In this case, can poker sites be considered gambling sites.
4. Third Party Payment sites. Sites like Neteller and Firepay are offshore companies that allows you to purchase overseas by upload funds to the account and then disbursing it to a foreign company such as retail locations for toys, clothing, and other merchandise. It also includes online sites not based in the states (which is all of them). Can the US Government restrict a company that does not even reside in the US from making specific transactions? Because these sites are not strictly for gambling, can the US government prevent banks for transferring funds to these accounts? My feeling is no.
More to come as things develop.
2 comments:
...and the online gambling debate still goes on and on and on... light years behind Europe.
The politicians in Washington have absolutely no clue when it comes to online gambling and what their citizens want.
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