Online Casino Law Summary on Cardplayer

There's a top notch summary of the online gambling legislative process on Cardplayer these days. The article covers events since the passage of the Safe Port Act in October 2006.

Here are the topics discussed in this latest Card Player poker news article:

1. Bill Frist's undemocratic tactic of forcing an anti-gambling bill into the Safe Port Act. Because regulations of online gambling could not have passed on its own merits, Frist used his power as Senate Majority Leader to attach the bill to a bill which had widespread support in the Senate. If Senators had voted against the Safe Port bill, they would have been portrayed as weak on secuirity.

2. A summit in the United Kingdom to discuss online gambling. This summit was attended by officials from 32 nations, though the U.S. declined to send a representative. This drove England's Culture Minister to criticize the U.S. stance on offshore casinos.

3. The Democrat's winning of Congress in November 2006, weeks after Frist's shenanigans. With the win, Frist not only lost his position as Senate Majority Leader, but his dreams of running for president went up in smoke. Thank Heaven for that.

4. The World Trade Organization ruling on online gambling which went against the United States. Antigua-Barbuda, with a population of 80,000, has twice defeated the U.S. before a WTO court. That's because the Bush administration's policy is so muddle-headed that even our high-priced lawyers can't make a sensible defense.

The online casino wto ruling will go down as yet another stunning example of the George W. Bush's contempt for "foreigners". When faced with defeat in the world court, the Bush administration simply ignored the WTO and the GATS treaty this nation agreed to uphold.

5. Ethics probes of the U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Gonzales is accused of firing eight U.S. attorneys for political purposes, including two attorneys who were probing Republican ethics violations. These firings shut down investigations in Republican wrongdoing, thereby subverting the normal legal process for narrow partisan reasons.

6. Coverage of four online poker bills which are being supported by most online poker advocates. The article goes on to suggest that Frist's precipitous actions offended people both for and against the poker bill, thereby providing a rallying cry for online gambling supporters. That rallying cry is the right of privacy, because the UIGEA is an intrusion into the homes and private lives of average Americans.

7. Poker Is a Game, Not a Crime. These are the words of Florida Representative Robert Wexler. You might remember him as the firebrand so prominent during the 2000 Bush-Gore election crisis. Wexler's district is the one where all the voting irregularities happened.

Online gambling has become a new issue for Wexler, who remains an outspoker critic of the Bush team. The wexler poker skill carveout is my favorite bill of the four mentioned.

Over, the Cardplayer article is a good overview of the situation. Thankfully, it's also an optimistic view. Hang in there and the process will turn in our favor.

Online Casino Law Summary on Cardplayer