Home / Poker News September 2009 / US appeals court upholds UIGEA: bad news for online poker?
US appeals court upholds UIGEA: bad news for online poker?
Posted by: James Carter. - Fri, 2009-09-04 15:43
Though at first sight, the fact that a U.S. appeals court upheld the 2006 UIGEA may seem like bad news, at a closer look, the silver lining of this cloud shines through. After several weeks and months of rumors and news about the growing anti-UIGEA movement, the ruling of the court was quite a cold shower, sobering and alarming in the same time.
The court didn’t consider the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming’s arguments according to which the UIGEA’s stipulations which forced banks and financial institutions to block payments to and from online betting entities were unconstitutional.
Despite the apparent bad news, the fact that the court asserted that the UIGEA and its implementation was more of a state level issue than a federal one, could indeed be considered one small step in the right direction. Given the fact that in 44 of the states internet gambling and online poker are not illegal, the appeals court’s decision has virtually opened up the path towards the legalization and regulation of online gambling and poker in all these states.
Because several of the states are indeed looking at ways to turn gambling and poker into sources of revenue, the days of legal Intrastate poker may be just around the corner.
The court’s decision has clearly pointed it out that poker players would not be the ones targeted by the UIGEA’s provisions. It has been underlined that the UIGEA didn’t actually treat any kind of online gambling activity as being illegal, rather it outlined financial institutions’ obligations regarding activities that would be illegal according to individual states’ laws. What qualifies as unlawful internet gambling is thus up to the states to decide.
Barney Frank’s initiative to legalize and regulate online poker and thus to turn it into a source of revenue for state budgets, may also have gathered some momentum on account of the decision. The media has covered the proceedings leading up to the decision extensively and the discussions regarding the potential of the online poker and gambling industry to provide tax revenue have been in the lime-light all through.
Whether this ruling represents a giant leap backward or a small step forward for the online poker industry remains to be seen. It all depends on the states’ willingness to legalize and regulate the games, and their readiness to turn to this potential source of revenue.
