13 May 2009
US Anti-online Gambling Legislation 13 Jul 2006 This week, the US House of Representatives is set to discuss one of two bills approved by the House Committee on the Judiciary over a month ago. The first bill is the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act, sponsored by Representative Robert Goodlatte. The second is the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, sponsored by Representative James Leach. The two anti-gambling bills have been moving slowly towards finality over the past few months. The Internet Gambling Prohibition Act seeks to ban online betting. It also orders US financial establishments, such as banks, work together with federal law enforcement authorities to obstruct the activities of online gambling sites, run by companies based outside the US. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act will prohibit credit card companies from billing customers for online gambling. The voting is set to take place for one or both of these bills on Wednesday. Reports about the pending House debate on the bills are causing shareholders to be jittery in online gambling companies, and they are reducing their exposure to these shares. Some of the top online gambling companies are reporting lower share prices, but all in all they seem to be holding out the storm. The consolation is that this bill has reached this level before and not passed. |  |
