Play Casino Room » Barney Frank

Ontario Lawmakers Consider Regulating Online Gambling

maryann — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 06:42:57 +0000

Recently, Ontario lawmakers were reported interested in regulating online gambling. However, until now it is not that clear if they truly involved themselves with regulation of online gambling. But Ontario lawmakers were actually reported interested in regulating online gambling after Ontario Lottery & Gaming Chairman Paul Godfrey talked about their intention to open casino within the next two years.

It was said that the Crown Corporation will spend more than a year to decide on how to proceed with the development of an online casino site. But the government-owned corporation had some scandals in the past years and so there will be some people who will question the ability of the corporation to operate an online casino site.

The OLG has been helping in matters of money some programs of Ontario which involve public employment, education, and hospital care. Officials said that hundreds of millions of dollars might be placed on these programs when the online casino site is done and launched.

Well, even United States is now also into the regulation of online gambling. United States House Representative Barney Frank actually introduced a bill, the HR 2267 bill or the Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act. It was first introduced back in May 2009 and was revealed to be a bill for the regulation of online gambling.

It was said that the bill will be the solution to the problem involving the transferring of money to and from offshore gambling. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act or UIGEA disallowed financial companies to do money transactions with offshore gambling firms.

As of now, the bill is close to becoming a law after it passed U.S. House Financial Services Committee. It only needs to be reviewed and be approved by the Full House and the Senate for it to become one.

HR 2267 Bill Passed

maryann — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 08:01:43 +0000

It is true that Barney Frank’s bill, the HR 2267 bill, passed. Recently, the HR 2267 bill was actually discussed in the U.S. House Financial Services Committee and it did pass with 41 to 22 votes.

The HR 2267 bill or the Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act was introduced by Frank back in May 2009. Frank did introduce the bill for the regulation of online gambling.

Of course, Frank wanted the bill to become a law. And now, it is close to becoming one after U.S. House Financial Services Committee passed it recently. It only needs to be reviewed and be approved by the Full House and the Senate for it to finally become a law.

The bill will be the solution to the problem on transferring of funds to and from offshore gambling firms that the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act or UIGEA created. UIGEA actually stopped financial companies from transferring funds to and from offshore gambling firms.

Yes, recently, the HR 2267 bill was discussed in the U.S. House Financial Services Committee and it did pass with 41 to 22 votes. However, it passed after some amendments were made. One of the amendments to really mention actually promotes measure that bans online gambling operators that permitted U.S. players to play though the UIGEA was being implemented. These operators will not be qualified for a gambling license in case the Frank’s bill becomes a law.

Well, Frank and many others who are also in favor of regulating online gambling must be happy with U.S. House Financial Services Committee passing the bill. It was good for it meant that the bill only has to pass the Full House and the Senate for it to finally become a law. It will become a law just after being reviewed and approved by Full House and the Senate.

Anti-UIGEA Bill Hearing Announced

maryann — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 07:31:31 +0000

The bill sponsored by Barney Frank, HR 2267, Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act has been very controversial. It has been actually promoting the repeal of the UIGEA to actually legalize and regulate online gambling in the United States.

It has been actually controversial since its formal introduction in the House Financial Services Committee. Since then the chairman of the committee, Frank, has been strongly promoting the UIGEA repeal and has been pushing a hearing for the said bill but then committee must first discuss other financial matters.

But recently, a hearing for the HR 2267 was revealed to be finally set on July 21. Frank and the others who have been also into the promotion of the repeal of the UIGEA must be very happy to have heard about the hearing.

However, the hearing was also reported to become something that might be heading nowhere just for several reasons.

“We appreciate Chairman Frank calling another hearing on HR 2267,” said Executive Director of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) John Pappas. “We hope this is the final step toward an eventual vote in his Committee on this legislation before the August recess. The PPA and the poker community stand ready to secure its passage.”

While Joe Brennan Junior of iMEGA believed that the i-gaming lobby deserves more than just a hearing, it deserves something better.

“Hearings are nice; they keep the ball in the air,” said the chairman. “What’s needed are votes: committee votes, floor votes. The i-gaming lobby has been working too hard for too long. It deserves more than a hearing.”
Well, hopefully the hearing for the anti-UIGEA bill will be pushed through so that Frank and the others who have been also into the promotion of the repeal of the UIGEA will just find the hope for their pursuit.

Online Gambling Bill Might Come Up for a Committee Vote and Mark-Up

maryann — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 08:49:00 +0000

The issue on legitimacy of online gambling in United States has indeed gone a long way. In fact, a lot of things were brought up just to put an end to it. Just like the bill that was introduced by Representative Barney Frank in 2009, the HR 2267, which up to now is being pushed through to legalize, regulate and tax online gambling. Obviously, it wants to put the issue to rest by approving online gambling in United States.

And now the good news, the HR 2267 might come up for a committee vote and possible markup specifically this February. John Pappas, Poker Players Alliance (PPA) executive director, is now looking forward to this development.

“This will be the first time – ever – that there will be a vote on licensing and regulation of Internet poker and Internet gaming in general”, said Pappas.

And Pappas indeed believes that bi-partisan support is needed for the pursuit of many to actually come into reality.

“We need bi-partisan support, and we need your help in achieving that”, said Pappas.

But then, the executive director’s vision of bi-partisan support seems a bit unreasonable. As sponsors, 65 Representatives have signed up to the bill and out of these, only four are Republicans and so majority are Democrats.

If ever a vote comes up, it is likely to be more on party lines, most probably not so many supporters for the online gambling legitimacy campaign.

The HR 2267 should become a law before June 1, 2010. Otherwise, the UIGEA rules will take effect on said date and after things will become hard for all those who are in favor of the legitimization of online gambling in United States.

Of course, there is still time for the bill to be reviewed and turn into a law. But anything can happen today or tomorrow or may be in the next few days or weeks or even months, so those who support the online gambling legitimization in United States must be prepared for anything.

Implementation of UIGEA Rules Postponed

maryann — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:05:07 +0000

It is confirmed, implementation of UIGEA rules now postponed. The United States Treasury and the Federal Reserved have released a joint statement to confirm that the implementation of UIGEA rules will not be enforced from December 1 of this year, 2009.

The joint statement cited some reasons why the implementation of the said rules be not enforced this time of the year. One of the main reasons was indeed about the rules not providing clear and enough definition of Internet gambling that is unlawful. Also, of equal significance, was that some members of the Congress wrote letters to the agencies saying that the legislation was in process to handle the problems brought by the rules. And not to mention that, the two agencies were indeed not ready with the mechanisms they needed to successfully prevent and completely stop transactions that have something to do with Internet gambling.

Because of the problems mentioned, the implementation of the UIGEA rules was postponed to June 1 of next year, 2010. According to both Treasury and the Federal Reserve, the postponement will actually give enough time for all the problems to be resolved and for the financial institutions to settle issues with their systems.

Supporters of online gambling were very happy upon hearing about the decision of Treasury and the Federal Reserve regarding the implementation of the UIGEA rules. Barney Frank, House Financial Services Committee chairman, was also happy. With regards to his sponsored bills, he said, “this will give us a chance to act in an unhurried manner on my legislation to undo this regulatory excess by the Bush administration and to undo this ill-advised law”. While John Kennedy FitzGerald, Interactive Gaming Council Chief executive, was also on the positive side and said, “IGC hopes that the U.S. Congress will use the intervening time to move U.S. law away from the ambiguous attempts at prohibition contained in UIGEA, and toward a rational policy of licensing and regulation”.