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Posted on 11/03/2005 10:28:14 PM PST by JTN
Americans are ignoring laws prohibiting online gambling so Congress is moving to create a bigger hammer. Gambling on the internet is illegal and booming thanks to the apathy of a lot of Americans. Congress is considering the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2005 to stem the tide. The proposal does not change current law but gives law enforcement more clout in dealing with illegal gambling on U-S computers. Tom McClusky of the Family Research Council.
"A lot of time the federal government's hands are tied. This allows both credit card companies and the Treasury Department to work hand in hand in trying to shut down some of these sites."
McClusky says the legislation will not solve the problem, but it is a good first step.
"The one thing about internet gambling, the FBI, the Treasury Department has found that a lot of the funding goes to some pretty unscrupulous things, anything from pornography sites to terrorism. So if this helps in that fight that is certainly a good thing."
Focus on the Family's Chad Hills says unless there is a crackdown, any home with a computer is a potential casino.
"We're going to have a casino in every living room where, at least most living rooms in America, where there are computers. And with this internet savvy generation of kids, you can bet it won't be long before they figure out a way to get on there and start gambling as well."
The legislation calls on the Treasury Department to draft regulations that must be followed by financial institutions. For example, credit card companies would be prohibited from approving internet gambling transactions. The legislation has the endorsement of the National Football League. It wants to stop online gambling on professional football games.
First, there is the claim that "a lot of the funding goes to some pretty unscrupulous things."
Even if (if!) this is true, the unscrupulous will easily find ways around the law. And in fact, most, if not all, of the major gaming sites are in foreign locales.
Secondly, while gambling online is already illegal, there have been no prosecutions. This press release would have you believe that this is because "the federal government's hands are tied", but there may be another reason - the World Trade Organisation has told the U.S. government that its laws against internet gaming are in violation of WTO rules. So the laws themselves may be illegal.
ping
How bout the federal government focuses on winning the War on Terrorism?
I think there are more pressing matters in this country than internet gambling.
Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
Not enough of the time.
Screw them. I'll take my chances on the Internet.
Gooooooood tagline!
They don't have much time left in this year. If it doesn't get passed in time, would they have to start over next year?
thanks yours is really good to.If more people listened to our two taglines the country would be in a lot better shape :-)
I say license it, tax it, and regulate it to make sure its run fairly, then STFU and let people decide.
If you go to Vegas you at least have the Nevada State Gameing commision inspecting the machines and auditng the house. But nobody is watching these on-line poker shops.
Perhaps true, but the poker sites do not have a stake in who wins the games. In poker you are not gambling against the house, just the other players, and the websites make their profits by taking a small amount out of each pot.
As if the 'other players' couldn't be friends of, or the employees themselves?
Right.
Just last week Osama bin Laden dropped a couple of mil on the 'cane - Semihole parlay ...
Possibly, but that would mean that the cheaters would have to be able to manipulate the website's software undetected. My presumption is that the major websites, knowing that they have a stake in the honesty of the games, have security clamped down reasonably tight.
My bigger concern with cheating online has to do with two or more players playing in the same game and sharing information with one another. Also, some people have created software programs which play automatically, without the programmer even being present. I don't know whether I consider this is cheating or not, but the poker sites do, and they will ban anyone caught doing it.
Online poker room are not going to reach out and grab your children by the collar and make them play.
First, let me say that parents should supervise their children's computer use by placing the computer in a group area or by installing software to monitor use.
It should also be clarified that depositing money in almost all online poker rooms is not a 5-minute quickie "impulse" endeavor for US residents. Almost all credit card companies will decline the transaction because of chargeback abuse. Therefore, other means are applied such as getting accounts with online banks such as Neteller.
This is correct, and it also applies to Paypal, which ended transactions with gambling sites after being threatened by the feds.
What they are saying is that some of these sites are being run by thugs, gangsters, and probably, yes, terrorists who are profiting from such operations.
Or so they say.
How do you know how many of those players are bots, or shills working for the house, for whom the deck is "shuffeled" in that "just so" sort of way.
Theoretically possible, but so unlikely that I don't really think that it needs to be considered. If a gaming website were ever caught cheating then the players would leave in hordes and the company would quickly go broke. And then there is the potential legal liability. Given that these sites can make such ridiculous amounts of money through scrupulous honesty, I can't see why they would even think of taking such a risk.
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