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written May 7, 2007
I want online gambling legal for everyone in every state. I want unregulated, feds out of my face, gambling that I had a year ago. I know, I know I will be screamed at from every angle, but I have to bring up a few things about the Barney Frank Bill that seem to be missing.
1. This is not a repeal of the UIGEA. It is a continuation of it. It strengthens that act, instead of leaving it the limp dog that it currently is. (So far, not one person, or business has been charged with a violation of the UIGEA).
2. Because it is a not a repeal it seems that Barney Frank has been a little manipulative in calling it a repeal. That sends up red flags for me.
3. The requirement that the sites collect all federal and state taxes due on Internet gaming winnings may scare off a lot of players and have a negative rather than positive effect on the industry. Players may not like having to give their ss# to sign up to play. They may worry about identity theft. Or they may worry about what it will cost them. Different states have different laws about paying taxes on gaming winnings and a lot of states are not exactly fair to gamblers. Do a search for gaming and taxes on Google to see what I mean.
4. This may not bring back PartyPoker and others huge Internet gambling establishments. Besides the taxe requirements, there are also licensing fees, an agreement to subject yourself to the jurisdiction of the US (something they may not be not be so keen to do) and it has a host of other licensing requirements that may make it impossible for them to get licenses, I don't know their situations. If so, then we could also lose the other sites that are currently operating now as well.
5. If it costs a lot more to operate a site, then it is possible the juice will increase. I understand about elasticity, but if the costs of running a site go up too much, then the juice will have to go up or it won't be profitable to operate a site.
6. Licensing always limits competition in any field. Limited competition always means higher prices for consumers.
7. One of the requirements for even attempting to get a license is that the sites open their books for the Feds. Will that be good for everyone?
8. This bill gives an unfettered amount of discretion to the Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. This guy gets to personally decide who get a license and who doesn't. He also gets to set up "Such other requirements as the Director may establish by regulation or order."
That is a lot of power to hand over to one guy. Once you hand over the power you can't take it back. What happens to our entire industry if the guy who gets that position decides he doesn't like gambling? He could theoretically make up any rule he wanted that would ruin the industry. And if we are safe with this Director, what about the next guy and the next. The law will stay on the books and the power will stay in this one individual's hands.
I for one don't think that is good for the Internet gambling industry.
I think this bill has a lot of problems. It has been designed to pander to the politicians who will make a fortune from it because they are the ones who are handing out the licenses. The right wing loves it because it will tax the hell out of gamblers (potentially) and gives the federal government power over the industry finally. The ones I see losing in this little deal are the recreational players.. The ones who play on line day after day.
I also see the potential for a political backlash against it where all sorts of states throw things on their ballots to make gambling online illegal in their states so they can opt out. It will bring gambling to the forefront and people may freak about it. Think about what happened with gay marriage. If that happens then a whole lot of us will be unable to play online who are happily gambling right now.
I think we need to be extremely cautious and really think about how this bill will effect the players and not just jump on it because it sounds good in the sound bites.
I am a libertarian and I think that most government interference is a bad thing. Federal interference is just force and it has a destructive force on markets. I do not think it will help online sports betting to pass this bill. I think you may live to regret it.
So please be careful. |
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发表于 2007-5-7 23:06
