| Top > News > 2006 > April > 16 Apr 2006 |
Banks Against Anti-Gambling Proposal |
| The Internet Gambling Prohibition Act which is currently up for discussion in the American legislature is finding opposition in places that it did not expect. The banking industry has now come out against the anti-gambling bill, stating that the extra burden in tracking whether financial transactions are used to pay for internet gambling will weaken the banks’ ability to fight ‘real’ crimes such as money laundering and terrorism-backed monies. A spokesperson for the bank said that applying the requirements of the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act would put a real strain on the banking industry. The spokesperson continued to question the effectiveness of the law asking whether the law would be able to quell internet gambling to such an extent that it would justify the massive time and expense that would be required by the banking industry in order to implement another level of regulation. According to the sponsors of the anti-gambling bill, internet gambling is estimated to be a $12 billion industry with approximately $6 billion coming from U.S. bettors. The Internet Gambling Prohibition Act plans to crack down on illegal gambling by updating the Wire Act to ensure that it includes all forms of interstate gambling such as lotteries and poker, and that future technologies also be covered. The Wire Act currently only prohibits bets to be placed over the telephone. |
Copyrighted 2005 © Bet At USA. All rights reserved.