Frist may have right idea but wrong way to go about it.
The Internet gambling industry — headquartered almost entirely offshore — is an estimated $10 billion a year business. And it's one in which some members of Congress would like to shut down, at least to its American customers.
This summer the House approved a sweeping Internet gambling measure, but the Senate hasn't followed suit. That's led Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee to try an end run.
His aides have been working to attach a prohibition on using credit cards to settle Internet gambling debts to a compromise Defense Department authorization bill.
Frist is on the right side of this issue in principle. For example, if a state such as Tennessee prohibits gambling, with exceptions only for state-run games such as the lottery, then companies really shouldn't be getting around state law by offering the games over the Internet. Additionally, the U.S. Justice Department has contended that online gambling is banned outright under the U.S. Wire Act of 1961.
Still, the issue of finding ways to enforce a prohibition against online gambling doesn't belong in a bill dealing with U.S. military operations. It should be debated separately on its merits, just as it was in the House.
In that House bill, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, federal law prohibits processing financial transactions related to online gambling, a move that was strongly opposed by the banking industry. It also was criticized for containing loopholes like the one that allowed betting on horse racing to remain legal.
As with many issues these days, there are so many competing interests when it comes to Internet gambling, which is rapidly expanding to cell phone gambling as well.
Our federal lawmakers need to decide if they are going to take a substantive stand against this form of vice or simply turn a blind eye as people throw their money away on a fool's bet.
source : http://www.theleafchronicle.com
Targeting gambling on Net
