Reports that record gambling bets at online casinos are being made by Wall Street brokers suggest that despite the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), Internet gambling is alive and well in the United States. Winning and losing six-figure sums seems not to be an unusual occurrence amongst those who see gambling as a way of life. The fact that UIGEA is widely seen, particularly by the financial institutions, as being unworkable has prompted legislators such as Democrat Barney Frank to sponsor initiatives that would regulate and tax online gambling.

This week Frank wrote to the US Treasury Secretary: “I am deeply disappointed to hear that your agency is proceeding with what I consider to be unseemly haste in issuing regulations implementing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. This midnight rulemaking will tie the hands of the new Administration, burden the financial services industry at a time of economic crisis, and contradict the stated intent of the Financial Services Committee.”

The letter ended: “I strongly urge you to delay implementation of these major, and deeply flawed regulations to permit the incoming Administration the ability to review the consequences of such a significant policy decision, rather than unfairly being denied that opportunity.”

Frank submitted a copy of the letter to the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Ben S Bernanke, with the comment: “I realize that the implementation of this flawed statute is not a task you requested. I also appreciate the candor with which your representative answered the questions at our hearing, confirming that this is an impossible task. There is no evidence that these issues have been in any way overcome. I strongly urge you not to burden the new Administration with administering a statute which cannot be carried out.”

The Washington Post reports that it has been confirmed that a recent lobbyist for the National Football League who now works at the White House is playing a controversial role in the Bush administration's last-minute effort to implement a ban on many forms of Internet gambling before the end of the president's term. The NFL says the fight to implement UIGEA is to ‘support the integrity of American athletics’ but many see it as the NFL trying to block competition for its lucrative online ‘fantasy football’, which was expressly exempted from the 2006 Act.

The administration is working on a list of regulations on a number of issues before it leaves power, a not unusual occurrence for outgoing politicians. Frank failed in a previous attempt to get UIGEA legislation delayed until the term ‘unlawful Internet gambling’ was legally defined. The proposed rules on gambling are due to be implemented on 19 January 2009 unless sufficient legislators can be persuaded to support a more reasoned approach to online gambling regulation than moral indignation. (E-11.12.08)

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