Internet Gambling Bill

Friday 14 October 2011

In the House of Representatives, there is a bill (H.R. 4777) that was introduced by

Representative Bob Goodlatte, of Virginia. The bill, entitled "Internet Gambling

Prohibition Act", was introduced to the House of Representatives on February 16,

2006 and was sent to the Committee on the Judiciary on the same day. The bill is

one that, if passed, will affect all Americans who want to be able to gambling online

--it will affect those promoting gambling oriented affiliate programs too.

The Path

It's first important to point out that the path of this bill become official United States

law is a long and difficult one. The bill has to go through many steps in the House

first. H.R. 4777 has 129 cosponsors, which is roughly 25% of the representatives in

the House. It does have a good shot at passing the House in the coming months.

If it passed in the House, it will be sent to the Senate, where it will have to undergo

the same process as it did in the House. The bill will be sent to a committee, reports

will be written and so forth. If not even one word is changed and no rider is

attached, it will be placed up for vote. Should even one word be altered or a rider

attached, it will need to repeat the cycle at the House of Representatives.

Should the bill be one of the few that survives this path, the President will have to

sign it into law or veto it. If the bill does not make it all this way before the current

session ends, the bill is quashed and will need to be re-introduced next session and

start all over again.

The Bill

This main purpose of this bill is to make online gambling illegal and to make sure

the language of the text includes the Internet and not simply "phone lines." H.R.

4777 seeks to amend Section 1081 of Title 18 of the United States Code. Here's a

breakdown of the language updates.

1. "wire communication facility" will be replaced with "communication".

2. "aid of wire, cable," will have satellite and microwave added to the list.

3. "other like connection between" will have "(whether fixed or mobile)" added to

the description.

4. Adding definitions for: bet or wager, gambling business, money transmitting

service, money transmitting business, foreign jurisdiction, and others.

The bill will amend Section 1081 to be stronger and more complete. The whole

concept is to do away with limiting terms like "wires" and replace it with an all-

encompassing term like "communication facility". That way the law remains strong

no matter what inventions the future holds.

Conclusion

The bill has a long way to go to become law, but if it does, it will strengthen Section

1081. Gambling online in the United States is already technically illegal, but it's a

law that's not really enforced. The question remains; will this improvement matter at

all if the law is not being enforced anyway? Only time will tell, but the coming

months should be very interesting. The United States is also battling the WTO,

because of the U.S.'s stand on online gambling--it's can't be fully regulated and

taxed by the U.S., so they don't like it.

Sebastien Veilleux is the founder and players manager of AdvantageSportsBetting.com and one of the top experts in the industry today.

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