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Tea Party Conservatives Support Efforts to Quash UIGEA RE: Markup of HR 2267 Tuesday

Dan Michalski — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:24:07 +0000

The battle over Barney Frank’s HR 2267 is heating up, and he seems to have found allies in sensible albeit unusual places. Specifically, supporting efforts to dismantle – or at least rebuke and revise – the UIGEA are the Heartland Institute, Americans for Tax Reform, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and Dick Armey’s FreedomWorks.

A letter they all sent to Congressional members yesterday:

July 25, 2010

Dear Member:

In the next few days, you will consider legislation that would modify the regulation of Internet gambling. We have a variety of opinions about the specifics of the bill but, as representatives and employees free market organizations, we all strongly believe that the current government regulations intended to prohibit Internet gambling are destructive, burdensome, and unfair.

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, and the Wire Act all need review and revision. The legislation you are about to consider about would make some necessary revisions particularly to the burdensome, silly, and destructive regulations contained within UIEGA.

Certainly, other approaches need to be tried. The ideas contained in the bill you are about to consider are certainly worth your careful consideration and attention.

Yours truly,

Eli Lehrer
Senior Fellow
The Heartland Institute

Grover Norqist
President
Americans for Tax Reform

Wayne Brough
Chief Economist
FreedomWorks

Michelle Minton
Director of Insurance Studies
Competitive Enterprise Institute

Raymer Representin’ for PPA

California Jen — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:01:40 +0000

Greg Raymer has always been an avid supporter of the Poker Players Alliance for years, and he has never been afraid to travel/speak/promote when needed. Within the last few weeks, he attended a reception hosted by Americans for Tax Reform founder Grover Norquist at the scene of the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Committee) conference in D.C.

Subsequently, Raymer was invited to appear on Fox Business News. His message seemed to be well-received, despite the female news correspondent calling him Greg “Rainer” at the end of the interview.

Kentucky Domain-Grab Hearing Tuesday, Oct. 7thPPA Helps Organize Emergency Summit on Monday, Oct. 6th

California Jen — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 16:42:48 +0000

Governor Steve Beshear’s attempt to seize 141 gaming-related domain names is certainly not over in Kentucky. The Franklin County Circuit Court will hold its next hearing on the case on Tuesday, so the PPA is working with other organizations to hold a summit on Monday to put rational heads together and devise a plan to save online poker.

The emergency summit is actually being called by the Bluegrass Institute, an independent research and educational institution seeking free market solutions to Kentucky’s problems. The Bluegrass Institute will be joined by the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), Internet Commerce Association, Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA), and Americans for Tax Reform.

When: Monday, October 6th at 1pm
Where: Capital Plaza Hotel in Frankfort, 405 Wilkinson Blvd

According to the PPA’s press release, the purpose of the summit will be as follows:

While the primary focus of the stateâ€™s action is online poker, the ramifications extend much farther into the entire realm of online commerce. This is a matter of the gravest importance, and the Bluegrass Institute is urging anyone with an interest in protecting internet freedom to join the protest against this egregious action.

Does Kentucky have jurisdiction to seize these domain names? What are the national and international ramifications should Kentucky succeed in this seizure order? What threat does this action make to the future of internet freedom and technological innovation? Do domain names fit the Kentucky statutorily definition of a gambling device?