The New Kyl Bill: Why Bother?
By The Advocate April 15th, 1999
Most of us who follow the Kyl Bill know of the
Justice Department's concerns over the bill's
enforceability and constitutionality. Most of
us know the Kyl Bill was fought by the various
special interest groups-such as the horse
racing and fantasy sports industry-that were
to be affected by the bill. Most of us know the
Kyl Bill died in 1998.
But we didn't expect it to end there, did we?
On March 23, the Judiciary Technology,
Terrorism and Government Information
Subcommittee held a hearing on Internet
gambling, putting the Kyl Bill back in the
headlines and back on track for '99.
Witnesses at the hearing included James
Doyle, Attorney General, State of Wisconsin;
Betty Montgomery, Attorney General, State
of Ohio; Jeff Pash, Executive Vice
President, National Football League; and Bill
Saum, Director, Agent and Gambling
Activities, National Collegiate Athletic
Association. But unlike last year, when the
Kyl Bill faced an uphill battle due to the
aforementioned concerns, the new version of
the Kyl Bill is much more focussed, and most
of the controversial elements that slowed its
progress last year have been stripped from
the bill. Most notably, the "Casual Bettor
provision has been removed. Under Kyl's
new legislation, placing a wager on the
Internet would not be a federal crime. A
previous version on the bill called for
significant fines and jail time for even a
casual bettor caught placing wagers on the
Internet. The Justice Department, however,
ripped into that notion over a year ago.
Some of the other changes include:
Exceptions for news reporting,
analyses, odds, results, or the online
posting of educational information on
how to gamble.
Common pooling for pari-mutuel
wagering provided it is legal in the
states or foreign countries where the
betting and racing are taking place.
Plus, any otherwise lawful wager that is
placed on live horse races if
authorized under federal and state law
and governed by the Interstate Horse
Racing Act.
State lotteries, as long as the
purchases are either intrastate or are
between cooperating states and made
in facilities open to the general public,
such as the Powerball Lottery.
Exception for fantasy sports.
The bill still does contain injunction
provisions that would allow law enforcement
officials to shut down web sites, a notion that
is almost a joke, considering just about every
online gambling site is based offshore.
There is no way a country such as Antigua,
making a fortune on licensing fees, will
cooperate with the US government in
prosecuting an offshore operator.
Also of interest is the fact that it is rumored
the Feds will tell the Internet Service Provider
to shut down the gaming sites by blocking
access to them. It's safe to assume the ISP's
would say no to this because such intrusion
would open up a can of worms and set
precedent for the government controlling the
freest medium in existence. We've even
heard rumblings in Washington that if the ISP
refuses to block the gambling sites, the
government will not move to force them to do
so. There is, however, one way the US
government could hurt the online gaming
industry if the Kyl bill is passed, and that is
by forcing credit card companies Visa and
Master Card to stop doing business with the
virtual casinos. But in the grand scheme of
things, that will probably be a minor obstacle,
as "cybercash" and "ecash" companies will
be there to pick the ball up and run with it.
So as the new Kyl Bill rumbles toward almost
certain passage this year, keep in mind that
you, the bettor, will not be subject to
prosecution (although you would be breaking
the law by gambling online) and your favorite
site will likely be untouchable.
If you're comfortable with that scenario, play
away. After all, do you know anyone who got
arrested for tearing the tag off his or her
mattress? |
