“The problem with the regulations as they will be written, is that banks will not take any chances on what is legal online betting or illegal online betting. That will leave many states that were in favor of these regulations in a sudden crisis,” said Tom Brelry, a prominent lawyer who has covered the UIGEA since its inception.
A state Brelry could have been referring to is Kentucky. They have recently succeeded in seizing the domain names of 141 online gambling site domain names. While the case is still in U.S. courts, Kentucky could be a big loser from the new regulations.
Banks have already spoke about the inability to decipher which is legal online gaming activity and which is not. Many of these banks have threatened that if any regulations are put in place, that they will stop transactions from all online gaming sites. That would include Kentucky’s horse racing industry, and many states’ legal lottery sales that are done online.
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“If these regulations do get passed and are put in place, we are looking at a major financial crisis for banks and individual states. With the economy already in shambles and so many states relying on gambling revenue from state lotteries, this would be catastrophic for the United States,” said Brelry.
Catastrophe is what the Bush Administration has been about for seven years and ten months. At this late stage in the game, there is no reason to believe that in the last two months anything would change, but Brelry summed up the thoughts of many Americans when he said…
“No matter what comes of these online gaming regulations in the final months of President Bush’s term, it will only amount to one more mess for the next administration to clean up.”