Kudos to Rep. Barney Frank for introducing the much-anticipated legislation this morning. The Internet Gambling Regulation Consumer Protection & Enforcement Act of 2009 has no H.R. number attached yet, but the process has begun. The name of the bill doesn\’t exactly roll off the tongue or make for a nice abbreviation – IGRCPEA? – but might just be referred to as \”The Bill\” going forward. (Catchy?)
The 48-page bill provides for licensing, enforcement, and consumer protections regarding legal internet gambling, as detailed on the House Financial Services Committee website.
SUMMARY
The Internet Gambling Regulation Consumer Protection & Enforcement Act would establish a federal regulatory and enforcement framework under which Internet gambling operators could obtain licenses authorizing them to accept bets and wagers from individuals in the U.S., on the condition that they maintain effective protections against underage gambling, compulsive gambling, money laundering and fraud, and enforce prohibitions or restrictions on types of gambling prohibited by states, and Indian Tribes.
At the same time, Frank introduced a piece of companion legislation calling for the postponement of UIGEA regulations from this year\’s compliance date of December 1, 2009 to one year later. Pushing it to 2010 gives \”The Bill\” time to progress as it may.
So, it\’s on! According to Bloomberg, Harrah\’s Entertainment and Youbet.com are already on board and ready to lobby on behalf of this bill. More to come in the weeks ahead, no doubt.
(Note: KevMath beat me to it again! Duplicate posts on this can be forgiven, eh?)
