Further discussion needed of online gambling comments

The first point that AGA remarked was that Richard Bronson, chairman of U.S. Digital Gaming, stated that “…recent raids by federal prosecutors on online poker web sites make it unlikely the federal government will approve Internet gambling.”

AGA pointed that Bronson may be mistaken, and stated the following reason: “Americans are going to gamble online because they like to and they can. And, the reason they can is because there are companies that U.S. law enforcement cannot reach that will continue to offer them the opportunity. That should make it obvious: law enforcement alone is a half measure. And, the fact that current law isn’t working is an eloquent and compelling argument for changing the law as soon as possible”.

Besides, the association remarked that Bronson also predicted “the immediate future of online gambling is legalization within individual states,” and added that “If the specter of dozens of states, each potentially offering a multitude of different games, with different regulations and different levels of oversight isn't incentive for modifying UIGEA, what is? Congress can prevent this chaos by developing guidelines that states will have to follow when drawing up requirements for licensing and for regulations that companies will be required to follow.”

As the AGA white paper, Online Gambling Five Years After UIGEA, released earlier this month points out, “…the individual state efforts will result in a patchwork quilt of inconsistent regulatory and legal practices that would only strengthen the market of unlicensed offshore operators.”

“What is needed is a strong regulatory model, preserving states’ rights to determine if they want online poker allowed within their borders. This is the best approach to ensure a uniform regulatory and legal framework”, it concluded.