Lawmakers are rolling the dice on Internet gambling.
Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Peter King, R-N.Y., unveiled legislation Wednesday that would enable Americans to legally gamble online.
"The government should not interfere with people's liberty unless there is a good reason," Frank said. "This is, I believe, the single biggest example of an intrusion into the principle that people should be free to do things on the Internet. It's clearly the case that gambling is an activity that can be done offline but not online."
The law currently prohibits credit card companies and banks from processing bets placed on online gambling Web sites.
The legislation will repeal language passed in 2006 and signed into law by President Bush that made it illegal for banks and credit card companies to process bets made on the Internet.
Opponents argue that this will serve as a "clear danger to our youth" and encourage gambling addiction at a young age.
"If you put a computer in a teenager's bedroom, or in a student's dorm room at college, it's a temptation that many fall prey to," Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., said in a statement. "In fact, studies have shown that the earlier one begins gambling, the more likely it is he or she will become a compulsive problem gambler."
But Frank said his bill will include safeguards to prevent underage or compulsive gambling and other illegal activity.
"The notion that a society should prohibit something entirely because of the possibility that children will abuse it is a terrible blow to liberty," Frank said....
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/06/lawmakers-bet-internet-gambling-legislation/
http://uk.reuters.com/article/usPoliticsNews/idUKTRE5454Z720090506
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j22cdZo-b_2u22YCcteBlTXuFEHw
etc. etc.
Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Peter King, R-N.Y., unveiled legislation Wednesday that would enable Americans to legally gamble online.
"The government should not interfere with people's liberty unless there is a good reason," Frank said. "This is, I believe, the single biggest example of an intrusion into the principle that people should be free to do things on the Internet. It's clearly the case that gambling is an activity that can be done offline but not online."
The law currently prohibits credit card companies and banks from processing bets placed on online gambling Web sites.
The legislation will repeal language passed in 2006 and signed into law by President Bush that made it illegal for banks and credit card companies to process bets made on the Internet.
Opponents argue that this will serve as a "clear danger to our youth" and encourage gambling addiction at a young age.
"If you put a computer in a teenager's bedroom, or in a student's dorm room at college, it's a temptation that many fall prey to," Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., said in a statement. "In fact, studies have shown that the earlier one begins gambling, the more likely it is he or she will become a compulsive problem gambler."
But Frank said his bill will include safeguards to prevent underage or compulsive gambling and other illegal activity.
"The notion that a society should prohibit something entirely because of the possibility that children will abuse it is a terrible blow to liberty," Frank said....
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/06/lawmakers-bet-internet-gambling-legislation/
http://uk.reuters.com/article/usPoliticsNews/idUKTRE5454Z720090506
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j22cdZo-b_2u22YCcteBlTXuFEHw
etc. etc.
hno:
