Home / Poker News September 2008 / Barney Frank introduces new “Payment Systems Protection” bill
Barney Frank introduces new “Payment Systems Protection” bill
Posted by: James Carter. - Sun, 2008-09-14 17:39
The champion of the anti-UIGEA movement, Massachusetts Democratic Senator Barney Frank has once again proved that true to his word he’d continue fighting what he described as the “stupidest law ever passed”.
In a rather peculiar fashion, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 fails to define what unlawful internet gambling is, thus placing an almost impossible task in the hands of financial institutions which – according to the UIGEA – are expected to act as law-enforcement entities, a task they were never designed to undertake. Even if the goals were clearly defined, the institutions concerned would be faced with difficult to assess expenses if the system was to be implemented. Because of the ambiguous language of the UIGEA though, it is presently impossible for any of the entities concerned to make heads and tails of its recommendations.
Why such shady language? According to Frank, the fact that the law was attached to a must pass port security bill, prevented Congress from addressing its language shortcomings. The bottom line is, the UIGEA cannot be implemented in its present form, that is, not unless some modifications are brought to its code. Frank’s latest initiative, which comes on the tail of a failed attempt to push a “Payment Systems Protection Act” through, aims to do just that.
HR 6870, (the new “Payment Systems Protection Act”) looks to prohibit the Financial Reserve Board and the Department of Treasury – the two agencies responsible with the implementation of the UIGEA, to hold the UIGEA’s restrictions valid for anything other than what’s already been outlined in existing code: sports wagering.
On top of that, HR 6870 will suspend the UIGEA as it is, until an administrative law judge, together with the two institutions responsible for the UIGEA’s implementation devise a set of regulations which are actually workable. This move is bound to garner the support of America’s banking institutions, thus offering HR 6870 a realistic chance to pass despite the predictably stiff opposition.
Tomorrow is the day HR 6870 will meet its first challenge by undergoing an initial markup in subcommittee. We’ll try to keep you posted on this extremely important development in the coming days…
