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PPA Convenes on Washington to Promote Internet
Gaming Regulation
by Lance Kessel Onlinecasinosworld.com
October 28,
2007
Legwork to help overturn the Unlawful Internet Gambling
Enforcement Act has been raised a notch recently. As iMEGA
awaits the green light for a legal challenge against the UIGEA
(see previous article), the Poker Players Alliance has been
very busy lobbying in Washington and educating U.S. Senators
and House Representatives about the need and feasibility of
regulating online gambling.
The PPA recently organized a Washington Fly-In, in which
100 PPA members, including several poker playing celebrities,
converged on Capital Hill for three days to talk with
legislators and hold a policy conference. PPA's Executive
Director, John Pappas, said the fly-in was a huge success,
resulting in commitment to support HR 2046 and HR 2610 from
several members of Congress, including Representative Jim
Moran from Virginia.
In-depth discussions were held with 48 members of the House
and Senate, during which time the PPA delivered a message that
poker is a game of skill which should be regulated under
Constitutional Law. And while the PPA's primary intent is to
legalize online poker (perhaps using online casino gambling as
a scapegoat), the fact remains that both gambling bills seek
to liberalize shortsighted and biased legislation making up
the UIGEA.
To say the bills are aiming to overturn the UIGEA is not
entirely correct. Rather than try and completely overturn the
bill, which many legislators believe is an unrealistic goal,
the two bills aim to liberalize the UIGEA. In other words,
they are essentially seeking to give the UIGEA more carveouts
while liberalizing it so that it gives individual State's the
choice and power to regulate various forms of internet
gambling.
To this end, some of the primary points the PPA focused on
during the Washington fly-in were regarding technology
advances used to effectively protect minors and problem
gamblers, the loss of billions in tax revenue because of the
UIGEA, and the need to regulate internet gambling considering
the ineffectiveness of a prohibition imposed by the UIGEA.
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