The battle for the full legalization and regulation of online casino gambling continues to wage on with both sides fiercely jockeying for position. Things have really been heating up in the east coast, particularly New York, where the Attorney General’s office has been quite busy extorting internet gambling revenue, money its claims was thieved from the state in the first place. While New York continues to crack down, it appears as if a few high-ranking government officials are softening on the idea of enacting legislation that would regulate online gambling in the U.S. Surprisingly enough, more political figures are jumping onboard in total favor of the move. In efforts to overturn the UIGEA, the current legislation which actually only bands specific forms of internet gambling, regulatory proponents are working overtime to find ways to implement other legislation against illegal forms of wagering and getting a number of bills in front of the U.S. Congress.
New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez is the latest government official to step up in favor of regulating online gambling. Understand that regulation would mean tax revenues, Senator Menendez’s name is added to the growing list of politicians who are far more open to the concept now than they were a few years ago. An ironic twist to the whole deal is that the Senator’s new proposal was released the very same day the New York State Attorney scored a huge victory with the indictment of Douglas Rennick. It has been reported that Rennick, an online poker entrepreneur, was taken down for processing an estimated $350 million in wagers.
Rennick’s unfortunate situation is solid proof that despite the current legislation and casino sites that ban American players, online gambling still occurs quite frequently in the United States. The online casino operators that are not subject to the penalties of the UIGEA will continue to accept wagers from American citizens and discover new ways to circumvent the attempts made to block monetary transactions. So even though the New York Attorney General a garnered high profile victory, the demand for internet gambling will remain and operators will always be around to fulfill the need. More U.S. government officials are growing aware of this reality, taking it into account with the current state of the economy and more carefully considering the feasibility of regulation. As has been the case for sometime, the main issue is the potential risk of underage gaming and the ever looming threat of addiction.
Unlike other political figures, Senator Menendez’s proposal does not suggest regulating all forms of internet gambling. Instead, he has decided to focus on the biggest and most profitable sector of the industry: online poker. Citing a number of the same online gambling guidelines in the United Kingdom, where laws tend to be far more lenient, the Senator’s bill is asking for a 10% tax on each deposit a player makes. These revenues would be shared among the state and federal government in which the player lives.
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Senator Menendez joins House Representative Barney Frank and other politicians who have been lobbying in recent times for the regulation of online gambling. It is an uphill battle, but one more proponent means one more step in the right direction.
