Last Wednesday the members of the House Financial Services Committee voted on Barney Frank's bill to legalize online gambling in the US. After a number of amendments the members of the Committee approved the bill with a 41 to 22 vote.
UIGEA Implementation
The HR 2267 bill was put forth by Barney Frank in response to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), that was finally implemented on June 1, 2010. UIGEA implementation effectively prohibited financial institutions from processing transactions from and to online gambling companies.
With the 41 to 22 vote the bill, formally known as the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act, will now be discussed in congress and ultimately voted on by the full House and Senate before becoming a law.
Amendments to the Bill
Before passing the bill, the committee demanded several amendments to the bill, partly related to consumer protection and partly related to the authority of the individual states.
Among the amendments are additional measures to prevent underage gambling, the right for individual states and Indian tribes to forbid online gambling on their territory, and the exclusion of online sports betting.
Qualifying for Gambling Licenses
Furthermore the final bill contains a measure to prevent online gambling companies that still accepted American players after the UIGEA introduction, from qualifying for a gambling license under the new legislation.
