This was just posted at egamingreview.com (I’m posting the article, for those who aren’t registered at the site):
Egaming industry must speak out against “lying” US politicians
A leading commentator has called for the online operators to group together to combat “lying” US politicians after a bill to prohibit gambling on the internet was put before Congress last week.
The bipartisan Internet Gambling Prohibition Act was reintroduced by Congressmen Bob Goodlatte and Rick Boucher with the intention of increasing the penalty for what the bill terms illegal gambling from two to five years in jail.
The bill aims to prohibit gambling sites from accepting most forms of payment, including credit card and bank transfers and would allow federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to seek injunctions to prevent and restrict violations of the Act.
In statements accompanying the reintroduction of the bill, its promoters suggested legislation was needed help stem the “explosive growth” of internet gambling.
In an unintended compliment to the phenomenal success of online gambling, Goodlatte said: “For too long our children have been placed in harm’s way as online gambling has been permitted to flourish into a $12bn industry.” Rep. Boucher said online gambling operations “often serve as a prime vehicle for money laundering and other criminal enterprises.”
In response to these allegations, Patrick O’Brien, internet gaming expert at US law firm Greenberg Traurig said: “These politicians are lying when they talk about online gambling and money-laundering and people being driven to bankruptcy.”
The online industry has to speak out on such emotive issues, he said. “You need more rhetoric in return. The operators do need a concerted effort. They need to work with individual states. I don’t believe regulation will happen at a Federal level.”
Susan Breen, partner and head of the betting and gaming department at UK-based law firm Mishcon de Reya, agreed that though there was some work being done behind the scenes by the online operators, more needed to be done. “Maybe it needs to be a bit more upfront,” she said.
“These guys, like Goodlatte, Kyl and Leach, are just not going to give up. But the question is, will someone collapse on the other side of the argument. Will they buckle and let something in?”
Sebastian Sinclair, from US-based gambling consultancy firm Christiansen Capital Advisors, said that while the industry would be impacted by the passage of any legislation, any Act would fail in its ultimate aim. “US citizens will keep right on gambling online if they want to,” he concluded.