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News
30 March 2006
Attorney Generals Urge Online
Casinos Ban
With
the latest American political attempts to legislate against
Online
Casino gambling
warming up, 49 of the 50 state Attorney Generals in the the
USA have appealed to Congress to ban this form of online
entertainment.
Allegedly motivated by
concerns about gambling addiction and of too many college
students turning from video games to Internet casinos for
entertainment, state legislatures are considering ways to
control the boom in online gambling say media reports from
America.
With online gambling
revenues quadrupling over the past five years to build a
multi-billion dollar industry, the AGs seek to combat the
proliferation of Internet gambling. Last week Ohio Attorney
General Jim Petro joined with fellow attorneys general from
across the nation in urging Congress to pass legislation to
halt the games.
The legislation, submitted
in different Senate and Congress proposals by Sen Jon Kyl
and Representatives Leach and Goodlatte would prohibit using
the Internet to operate online casinos and restrict the use
of financial instruments by Americans. There has also been
talk of forcing ISPs to block gambling sites, something
which is widely seen as an attempt to censor the Internet
and will therefore not sit well with many citizens. There
are understood to be 130 sponsors signed up for the Leach
Bill currently in the House.
The international and
cross-border nature of the Internet raises serious
enforcement problems for such legislation, because most
online casinos, poker rooms and sportsbooks are based
off-shore and not subject to US law. However, Americans
comprise the majority of players, and American restrictions
would not be welcome. Another contentious point is the
selective nature of previous banning attempts, which have
allowed exceptions for some Internet gaming types but not
others. And finally there is the right of individual states
to control events within their own borders rather than
having Federal requirements imposed.
Petro and his fellow AGs
argue that simply because the game is played online it does
not erase the problems associated with gambling. They claim
states must still address issues of game integrity,
effective consumer dispute resolution procedures, access to
gambling by minors, money laundering and other criminal
activity, as well as compulsive gambling.
Proponents of online
gambling point out that the major companies in the industry
have repeatedly asked to be legalised, taxed and regulated
in the USA.
Without federal action,
the states will be left to clean up the problems online
gaming creates, Petro said in a news release justifying the
appeal for national prohibition.
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