US agrees ban on offshore casino access

Daily Newsletters

Sign up to ZDNet UK's daily newsletter.

NEWS
The US House of Representatives voted on Tuesday evening to slap broad restrictions on Internet gambling by targeting credit cards and bank accounts that Americans use to pay offshore casinos. After spirited debate over amendments to the legislation, the House voted 319 to 104 for the final version, which did not include criminal penalties but did cover credit card payments. Michael Oxley, chairman of the Financial Services committee, said restricting offshore gambling was necessary to thwart Al Qaeda and other terrorist cells. "Internet gambling services (are) a haven for money launderers," Oxley said during the floor debate. "Offshore Internet gambling sites can be a haven for terrorists to launder money". The Unlawful Internet Gambling Funding Prohibition Act would give federal regulators six months to devise regulations to restrict financial transactions related to Internet gambling. The regulations must be "reasonably designed to identify" and "reasonably designed to block" credit card and other financial transactions. Opponents criticised the bill during three hours of debate, predicting it would legitimise Internet betting on horse racing, greyhound racing, lotteries and other types of gambling not covered by the legislation. The bill does not regulate "any lawful transaction with a business licensed or authorised by" a state government. "We're going to ban Internet gambling except for horse racing. Why? Well, it's because the horse racing lobbyists and the dog racing lobbyists say that's what we ought to do," said Republican John Conyers. "Why did you write a bill like this? This is a bill that expands gambling by accepting two industries." Republican Spencer Bachus said enacting a law was necessary to protect America's children. "These sites specifically target pre-teenage children. They're becoming addicted to it and they turn to crime...If dogs, cats, rabbits, any animal, if they protect their youth, at least we can rise to that level and protect the youth of our country." Many forms of online gambling are already illegal in the US, but enforcing these laws -- especially against a consensual activity that Americans do from the privacy of their own homes -- has proven tricky for police and prosecutors. One amendment that the House rejected by voice vote would have removed credit cards from the sweep of the legislation. The justification for the proposal, by Republican Sheila Jackson-Lee, was that minors would be unlikely to have their own credit cards. A second failed amendment, rejected by a vote of 186-237, would have deleted the language permitting "any lawful transaction with a business licensed or authorised by a state." It was sponsored by Republican James Sensenbrenner, who opposed the underlying bill in part because it did not go through the Judiciary committee that he chairs. "We might as well just call this bill the horse racing prohibition act because it will literally kill the entire industry," Republican Harold Rogers said of the amendment. "It is intended to make current legal activities illegal (and) would be catastrophic to the $34bn (£20.44bn) horse racing and breeding industry -- especially to the states who rely on it for tax revenue." The Senate has held hearings on similar proposals but has not approved its own version.
For everything Internet-related, from the latest legal and policy-related news, to domain name updates, see ZDNet UK's Internet News Section. Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

  • Login

Will not be displayed with your comment

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

Get ZDNet UK's daily newsletter

Enter your email address to sign up

ZDNet UK Live

BrownieBoy

@Jack, > Works really well for thieves.... Nice attempt to deflect the argument by tossing in a point that's totally irrelevant, even it were...

6 hours ago by BrownieBoy on AMD Ultrathins to challenge Intel Ultrabooks
bootlegger

Make that 13 people now - I got refused today at Manchester airport. I thought I was up to date on this legislation - I knew of the EU ruling from...

9 hours ago by bootlegger on UK airport body scans will not be opt out
tinycg

Don't forget to check out apps like GoodReader or SlideShark either, they're indispensible for people on the go in presentation situations. Best...

12 hours ago by tinycg on Four top iPad apps for people on the move
TerryRK

Well it seems there is something a number of us agree on. Why is the Ubuntu Unity launcher so ugly? I thought perhaps it was something to do with...

16 hours ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Freebies202

Duplicate comments are not made intentionally. Its very good to know that now you are keeping check on this problem because sometimes a commenter...

1 day ago by Freebies202 on Microsoft fixes blog comments, speeds up blogs with open source
kevinmchapman

"the very significant number of users" and "many (most) of us" - you have no evidence for these statements. It is a fact that most users are saying...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Marg Menzies Harrison

Another grammar faux pas is the improper use of "you". When sitting down down in a restaurant, for example, I get cringe when the waitress...

1 day ago by Marg Menzies Harrison via Facebook on 10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid
zdnetukuser

And NOW, folks, for Canonical's next trick... Kubuntu is late. Here's a pencil. Draw your own conclusions. cf.:...

1 day ago by zdnetukuser on Linux Minterface
Moley

@kevinmchapman. The discussion here reflects the very significant number of users who really do like the traditional menu system and who wish to...

2 days ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
kevinmchapman

Er, no... It is an efficient means of finding the application/file/setting you need in one place. The icons are a simply a fallback for when you...

2 days ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
TerryRK

Isn't the provision of a text based search an admission by the developers that the mass of icons approach does not work? I don't need to use a...

2 days ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
kevinmchapman

"Unity and GNOME 3 both abandon the old text-based cascading menus in favour of a graphical icon-driven system." Point truly missed. Both use a...

2 days ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
TerryRK

whs001 - Thank you, I'm glad you liked the article. I absolutely agree with you on your first point. I should perhaps have made it clearer that...

2 days ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Dennis Nilsson

If we allow corporate interest to dictate the way our government circumvents due process against foreign entities then we should accept the same...

2 days ago by Dennis Nilsson via Facebook on ACTA stumbles in Germany
GHar123

I totally dislike pirating of works, I fear that artists will be deterred from creating works if they think that they are going to get ripped off....

2 days ago by GHar123 on ACTA stumbles in Germany
JCB33

How dare film makers, artists or anybody that invests in creativity stop us pirating their works for free. I want to be able to walk into my local...

2 days ago by JCB33 on ACTA stumbles in Germany
Moley

@GrueMaster. I prefer horses for courses rather than one size fits all. I, and I suspect most other computer users, do not really wish to have...

2 days ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
greycynic

The product that scares me every time I have to use it is the Office 2007 version of Excel. The first bug that I found was applying the median...

2 days ago by greycynic on Ten flawed products that derail productivity
GrueMaster

Nice review and very informative. One thing I'd like to add (in reply to whs001's 1st question), the main reason to have the same interface from...

2 days ago by GrueMaster on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Frederick Wrigley

I'be been using Mint 12 since the RC came out, and I am far more happy with the Cinnamon, the Mate, and, yes (with extensions), theGnome 3...

2 days ago by Frederick Wrigley via Facebook on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint