Someone at Bluff wrote a little ditty about it here, and the official press release from Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative below:

May 5, 2009

New Internet Gambling Legislation to Be Introduced by Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank

Updated analysis estimates regulation will generate up to $63 billion in new government revenue over ten years

Barney Frank (D-MA), Chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services, today announced plans to introduce legislation tomorrow to establish an enforcement framework for licensed gambling operators to accept wagers from individuals in the U.S. The legislation is expected to include a number of significant consumer protections, including safeguards against compulsive and underage gambling, money laundering, fraud and identity theft. Millions of Americans are wagering more than $100 billion annually with offshore Internet gambling operators despite the current prohibition imposed under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA).

“We applaud Chairman Frank’s strong leadership to advance a common sense approach to regulate Internet gambling and reverse the intrusive, ineffective and burdensome prohibition,” said Jeffrey Sandman, spokesperson for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative. “Despite the current prohibition, millions of Americans wager more than $100 billion annually with offshore Internet gambling operators. Rather than tell Americans what they can and cannot do online in the privacy of their homes, Chairman Frank’s approach to regulate Internet gambling would protect consumers and allow the U.S. to generate billions in new revenue to fund critical government programs.”

During the 110th Congress, Chairman Frank introduced the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act of 2007. A companion piece of legislation introduced by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act of 2008, would help capture revenues that are currently lost to offshore gambling operators. According to a recent analysis, collecting taxes on regulated Internet gambling would allow the U.S. to capture from $48.6 billion to $62.7 billion in new revenue over the next decade, a 21 percent increase from previous estimates. Without this legislation, this revenue will remain uncollected.

Representatives of the financial services industry, including the Chamber of Commerce and Financial Services Roundtable, have expressed concerns about the burden and ambiguity in the rules to implement UIGEA which require the financial services sector to identify and block unlawful Internet gambling transactions.

“We hope all interested parties will unite to support Congressman Frank to help advance this important legislation,” Sandman said. “Americans continue to gamble online. It is time for Congress to regulate and tax Internet gambling.”

“60 Minutes” and Washington Post Coverage Highlight Why Congress Should Regulate Internet Gambling and Protect Consumers

Current prohibition leaves Americans unprotected

Jeffrey Sandman, spokesperson for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative, today issued the following statement in regards to recent coverage on CBS News’ “60 Minutes” and in The Washington Post on the dangers Americans face when they gamble online.

“The 60 Minutes and Washington Post stories demonstrate unambiguously that the existing government prohibition on Internet gambling is a failure and a mistake. The millions of Americans who continue to gamble online are vulnerable to being defrauded by offshore operators who exploit U.S. prohibition policies, leaving U.S. consumers without legal protections when they make a bet or play poker online. It is clear that a different approach is necessary to protect consumers, as well as to recapture the billions of tax dollars currently lost to offshore gambling operators and out of the U.S. economy. Now more than ever, Congress should understand why it should step in and regulate the industry to protect the public. We are hopeful that increased attention in the media about the issue will lead to increased movement in Congress.

Left out from the 60 Minutes and Post coverage were details about the specific benefits achieved through regulation. Legislation introduced last year by Rep. Barney Frank, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act of 2007, would establish an enforcement framework for licensed gambling operators to accept bets and wagers from individuals in the U.S. It includes a number of built-in consumer protections, including safeguards against all of the types of improper activity identified in the recent news coverage. These safeguards include protections to combat compulsive and underage gambling, money laundering, fraud and identity theft. Moreover, as the coverage reveals, the structure of the Internet allows for greater protections since there is a complete audit trail of all Internet gambling activity and transactions. A companion piece of legislation would ensure the collection of taxes on regulated Internet gambling activities. Revenues from regulated Internet gambling are estimated to be between $8.7 billion and $42.8 billion over 10 years, according to a tax revenue analysis prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers.”

Some organizations have played significant roles in attempting to come to our rescue. The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) and the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative are lobbying on our behalves, but it was going to take some actual members of our Congress to stand up and gain support for our cause.

We seem to have two of them in Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX). Not only have them spoken out against the UIGEA, but they have now proposed new legislation to stop it. H.R. 5767 was introduced on Thursday, April 10th, to prohibit the implementation of UIGEA regulations by banks and financial institutions, basically rendering the UIGEA ineffective.

Read the press release from the House Committee on Financial Services here.

Could poker’s superheroes be Frank and Paul? Bet on it.

Now is the time for the poker community to step up and show their support for H.R. 5767. Tell your Congressional representatives to back this legislation and push it through. The PPA and SSIGI websites make it easy to do.

PPA provides a simple form here, as does SSIGI here.