Can Barney Frank Pull off
US Online Gambling Coup
 April
29 - This question is being asked by the global online gambling
industry as Rep.
Barney Frank
(D-MA), chairman of the House of Representatives Financial
Services Committee announced yesterday that he
will introduce a bill next week designed to legalise and
regulate online gambling in the US.
Frank, who is undoubtedly the
unsung hero of online gambling in the United States,
has had a tough journey. In 2007 he famously tried and failed to
pass a new piece of legislation in Congress to
reverse the nation's online gambling ban,
which has been described by many as 'draconian and
short-sighted'.
The
effect the US ban has had on the online gambling industry has
been enormous.
It all started in October 2006 when the US Congress passed the Unlawful Internet
Gambling enforcement Act (UIGEA) to crack down on online
gambling. It forced most of Europe's largest publicly traded
online gaming firms to
pull out of the United States.
As the majority of global online gambling revenues were
generated in America, the effect was dramatic as the
gambling companies scrambled to generate their once enormous
revenues elsewhere.
To achieve this, many focused instead on the United Kingdom,
Europe as well as emerging markets in
Africa and Asia.
Now, however, the online gambling industry is abuzz - thanks to
the tireless efforts of Frank and the fact that the
US now has a seemingly more sensible and 'open-minded'
administration
in place - with the hope that the US government may actually
legalise, regulate and tax online gambling
activities within its borders, and welcome back foreign-owned
firms with open arms.
Congressman Frank may be closer now than ever before to have
online gambling legalised in the US. If legalised, the
industry would generate billions of dollars annually in taxes
that would help top-up government coffers depleted by the
recession, as
well as give Americans the right to choose to gamble online or
not.
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