It looks like Congress is turfing much of this issue to the courts, who have been mostly unfriendly to internet bans.
<<House chiefs agree on banning some Internet gambling
State lotteries exempt from Web prohibition
By Bruce Alpert
Washington bureau/The Times-Picayune
WASHINGTON - House leaders reached agreement Tuesday on legislation that would ban at least some forms of Internet gambling.
The compromise eliminates a controversial exemption incorporated in the original "Internet Gambling Prohibition" legislation for horse racing, dog racing and jai alai. The exemptions had generated criticism from some religious conservatives and others who complained that the exemptions would legalize online gambling that is now banned.
"What we're doing is we're going to be neutral on that question," said Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-Chackbay, chairman of the House telecommunications subcommittee, who helped broker the agreement. The bill is expected on the House floor next week.
As Tauzin explained the issue, officials with the horse racing, dog racing and jai alai industries maintain that wire betting, via the telephone, off-track betting parlors and simulcast facilities, has been a common practice in many states for years and that the Internet would be a logical and legal extension. But the Clinton administration, in recent testimony on Capitol Hill argued that such gambling is illegal when carried across state lines.
The administration argued that the original legislation would, in effect, legalize a form of gambling that violates the Wire Act of 1961, which bans most interstate gambling transactions conducted via the telephone.
"We don't know who is right and we're not going to pass judgment in this legislation," Tauzin said, noting that the issue would likely be decided by the courts.
Some conservative religious groups said that the original bill seemed to be condoning certain forms of gambling on the Internet, which could lead to the breakups of families drawn to a system of gambling with almost no controls.
The revised legislation retains a key provision from the original bill, which requires United States-based interstate service providers to cut off connections to Internet gambling sites, many of which are based in offshore locations such as the Caribbean. Some of the sites provide almost unlimited gambling, including, in some cases, wagering on college and professional sports.
The bill's chief sponsor, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said the Internet Gambling Prohibition legislation is needed to protect families and allow states to enforce their own gambling laws.
But some conservative groups argued that the original exemption for horse racing, dog racing and jai alai undermined the legislation.
On Tuesday, at least one of the groups, the Free Congress Foundation, continued to express dissatisfaction with the compromise legislation, too.
"Some of these members come from very conservative and religious districts and so they want to be able to say they are doing something about Internet gambling, but they took the easy way out and turned to the courts to solve many of the problems," said Lisa Dean, the foundation's vice president for technology.
But Tauzin said other religious conservative groups are supporting the compromise as the best that can be accomplished until thorny legal issues are resolved.
Louisiana recently enacted legislation that would allow racing fans to open accounts at the Fair Grounds to place bets by phone or the Internet. It is unclear how that measure might be affected by the proposed federal legislation.
Tauzin said that the federal bill should have little impact because it relates to intrastate wagers not covered by the federal legislation.
The revised bill that Tauzin helped to draw up does provide a specific exemption for state lotteries to accept wagers on the Internet, but only on closed-loop systems made available at public places, such as stores and businesses. Tauzin said that ensures the lotteries are not being used for interstate wagering, or by minors or others barred from playing lottery games.
Any bill that passes the House would have to be reconciled with a measure that passed the Senate earlier, which contains the controversial exemptions for horse racing, dog racing, jai alai and certain sports fantasies competition.>> |
