| The reactions following current UIGEA were diverse and ranged from upheaval to joy and back again. Most of the people expressing opinions about the new legislation (which was passed as a package deal with the Safe Port Act) had no idea about exactly what it contained, and how it would eventually impact the world of online gambling. All they knew was, that the U.S. had been the primary market for the industry, and it suddenly came under attack by legislators from Washington. Panic soon ensued, and in the media chaos created one idea emerged: online gambling and online poker had become illegal in the U.S. due to the UIGEA laws, a piece of legislation passed in a not exactly trust-inspiring manner, promoted by a group of individuals who may or may not have been pushing their own more or less shady agenda.
The truth however, was a different one. The UIGEA had not placed gambling or poker outside the law per se. Its most obvious effect was the one concerning financial institutions. Banks and credit card companies were required to block any sort of funds transfers towards offshore online gambling operations and poker rooms, thus making it theoretically impossible for U.S. players to spend American money ‘abroad’. Had horse-racing and other forms of gambling been not exempted from the law, it would’ve actually made perfect sense, and would probably have indeed created economic advantages for the U.S. The exceptions however, betrayed the true purpose of the undertaking, which was to provide domestic land-based casinos and other gambling operators an unfair advantage over their online competitors. The protection of those exposed to gambling addiction, a goal so readily invoked back in 2006, has obviously taken a back seat, and now, two years after the UIGEA we can safely affirm that in that respect, laws like the UIGEA has failed miserably.
The morality of the issue has also been subject to debate. Many pro UIGEA entities claimed that besides being harmful for the economy online gambling was also immoral, and it was the moral duty of the government to make sure it was stomped out. Certainly, many people may feel that way about it, and if one finds gambling a morally questionable activity, I can respect their views. Being given the right to formulate one’s own moral principles is an entirely different thing from forcing one’s moral principles upon other people though. That is something that should never happen in a nation which claims to cherish personal freedom.
Two years after the UIGEA law it is now clear that it has pretty much failed to attain any of the goals it was meant to cover. Gambling addiction hasn’t been influenced at all, the prevention of underage gambling has failed, and the much hailed economic advantages have not only not come about, the UIGEA law ended up creating havoc and causing losses in that respect to.
One of the main reasons for the utter failure of this bill was its ambiguity. Even lawmakers admitted it was much too ambiguous to ever define clear lines in any of the aspects it concerns. The other reason was that it placed law-enforcing responsibilities on the backs of financial institutions that were completely taken by surprise by this turn of events. In order to be able to ever enforce the UIGEA, current financial institutions would have to spend billions of dollars to set up infrastructure and train personnel. Add to that the compensations that the U.S. was forced to pay to WTO member countries, and the revenue the state is missing out on, and you’ll see why the UIGEA is not a cheap undertaking at all.
Bottom line is, in addition to costing the state big money, this legislative dead-end failed to achieve any of its objectives. There are scores of online casinos and poker rooms out there that still accept U.S. players, and apparently, in its attempt to lock offshore operators out of the industry, Uncle Sam only managed to lock himself out of the equation.
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Published by OpenPokerUSA Team |
