May 8th, 2009 by admin

Representative Barney Frank has been saying for months that he was putting together legislation that would overturn the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and set the framework for legalization and regulation of the online gambling industry in the US.

On Wednesday, that legislation arrived in the form of two separate Bills sponsored by Frank. The first Bill, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act of 2009, would establish a federal regulatory and enforcement framework where Internet gambling operators could obtain licenses to operate in the US.

Another Bill, the Reasonable Prudence in Regulation Act, would stop delay the implementation of regulations in regards to the UIGEA. The implementation of the UIGEA is set to go into effect on December 1, 2009.

The regulation and legalization Bill would ensure that the proper safeguards are in place to prevent underage gambling, money laundering and fraud, and compulsive gambling. It would represent a sweeping change in the current system in which US online gamblers are at the mercy of overseas online gaming sites.

Representative Frank has been opposed to the UIGEA since its inception back in 2006. The law against online gambling was a last minute add-on to a port security Bill that had nothing to do with online gambling.

Frank has argued that people in the US should be allowed the freedom to do what they wish with their money in the comfort of their own homes, especially with the same type of gambling that is legal in casinos.

It will still be an uphill battle for Frank to convince his fellow lawmakers that online gambling regulations will be beneficial to the US, but he has a much better chance now that power in Congress has shifted to Democrats.