Riding on a Bill that senate Majority Leader Bill Frist new would be singed by Bush, The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, was singed into law Friday. The Bill would make it illegal to place or pay off bets with checks or electronic money transfers of any kind.
A pastime enjoyed by 23-million Americans was deemed to have, "ill effects on society," by the Bills sponsor, Rep. Robert W. Goodlatte (R-Va.). Goodlatte says, he opposes all gambling, but opposes internet gambling the most.
There was a prohibition placed on the country at one point in history that brought about an era of lawlessness. Will this law bring about those same effects? Annie Duke seems to think so.
WaPo
We're going to have Prohibition, and what happened then?" said champion poker player Annie Duke, a former University of Pennsylvania doctoral candidate who began playing professionally in 1994. "We had people running around with tommy guns and drinking moonshine because they weren't given a safe product."
The Poker Players Alliance, a lobbying group that opposes the new law, said it would ask Congress to exempt poker from the statute. The group considers poker a game of skill, not chance.
What are the differences between online poker and the casinos that are going up all around the country? Here in Pennsylvania the licenses have just started being issued to companies to open casinos. West Virginia has had slots for a couple of years now. Some would say that is regulatory problems. Not Mr. Goodlatte.
Goodlatte said he would press to update the Wire Act to conclusively extend its authority to the Internet. That part of his bill was dropped in the Senate.
"All the problems that manifest themselves with gambling, even in heavily regulated states, are even worse on the Internet," Goodlatte said yesterday. "There are family problems, bankruptcy problems, gambling addiction, gambling by minors, using gambling to launder money for criminal and terrorist organizations and organized crime. It does not help our society."
Looking at Mr. Goodlatte’s last statement, the Right has done it again. Anything that they don’t want or want is attached to, terrorism. So in a way, I guess they attached it to the right Bill.
This seems to be the classic case in the country, that was founded on the majority rule, a small minority is making the laws to govern the many. To spell it out for you, smell the hand of the Religious Right in this.
"We've proven in history that trying to protect the minority and punish the majority never works," Duke said. "The fact is, there is a certain percentage of people who have addictive personalities [and gamble online]. Are you going to pass a law outlawing online shopping? Or day trading?"
My Take!
Annie Duke is right, especially her point about day trading. Isn’t D.T. an even bigger game of chance, in which you place even larger wages? You have people that think they can handle the Market and end up losing everything. I know friends that have run their selves into debt Online and Home Network shopping. Maybe, our government should go after that industry. The Lottery is an even bigger game of chance, why not shut that down I have heard stories of people going with out because they over play the Power Ball. Then there is alcohol, I am willing to bet that more home are broken because of Firewater, than online gambling.
I personally agree that Poker is a game of skill, which takes time to master. I am a poker player that has taken the time to learn the correct way to play the game of Texas Hold’em, but I never wager real money online. I do go to the sites that offer free rooms like, MansionPoker.net, PartyPoker.com, and PokerStars.com. These sites and others give you a chance to make the big tournaments, and a shot at the big money, “Free!”
I am not so blind that I don’t know there are those that feel that they will hit the big one on the next hand or in the next game, but the are a small minority. We don’t need the government telling us what to do in our free time. We work hard for our money, and should be free to do with it the things that make our lives happy.
ABA
Ps. For those of you that say screw this it doesn’t affect me, well you are wrong. This is just another chip of your freedom gone.
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