FreedomAtStake's Blog

US officials warned not to implement UIGEA

By FreedomAtStake | View all Posts
Posted Wednesday, April 23, 2008 10:43 AM   3 comments
The Hill.com posted some great news yesterday, as Barney Frank and his pals have sent an official letter to U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve officials telling them "not to waste any more time trying to implement a ban on online gambling".

In other words, they are giving a direct order not to enforce the UIGEA.

It doesn't get any clearer than that.

This is awesome news, but don't get too excited just yet, as there is still a long way to go.

For one thing, don't expect any US-based banks to start processing any gambling transactions anytime soon, as that is still technically against the law.

But the good news is that this edict might hopefully serve to bolster the confidence of offshore processors to start opening their doors to Americans again. After all, if the offshore processors know the US banks are no longer required to monitor the transactions, and both sides know that that the offshore operations are not technically doing anything illegal, then why not start accepting credit cards again?

It'll take a while before this happens, but the door is now open.

3 comments
comment Post A Comment
lanastasis says:
04/23/08 01:10PM
Thanks for the news, Freedom. It is a positive development, but like you said there is a long way to go. I do think you need to clarify the statement: "For one thing, don't expect any US-based banks to start processing any gambling transactions anytime soon"

Banks do process many gambling transactions, such as cashing checks and allowing bank wires to go through en route to offshore sites. Without this, online gambling would be all but impossible.

FreedomAtStake says:
04/24/08 08:40AM
You are correct.

I was talking about directly processing American credit cards tagged as gaming purchases.

As you say, the banks still "unknowingly" process a lot of charges, which are disguised by the offshore processors.

Rizzo says:
04/25/08 09:56PM
wow - great news indeed.

Rizz

Add your response:
Please note that the blogger has the option of reviewing all comments before they are displayed to the public. Your comment may not be published immediately.
 
Advertisement