It has already been some
time since the United States Congress has
decided to pass legislation that declares
Internet gambling to be illegal in the form of
the SAFE Port Act of 2006. And yet, even after
all this time, one still cannot help but feel
the need to voice out how wrong this move is.
It has often been said that inserting the
Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of
2006, also known as UIGEA, is downright sneaky.
Sadly, this assertion is true. It is also
strongly indicative that the authors of the SAFE
Port Act and UIGEA have not given the issue a
thorough study before the bill was written and
signed into law. The United States now pays the
price of such carelessness.
Basically, UIGEA caused the United States to
lose points on two aspects. One is economic,
while the other is social. On the economic
aspect, it is simply this: the Internet gambling
industry is still a growing industry worldwide
despite the sanctions the United States has
placed upon it. The enforcement of UIGEA has
made the US lose out on what could have been a
dominant market share.
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Proponents of UIGEA have argued that the US is
on the losing end of the deal, anyway. The US
federal government does not benefit from the
wagers and earnings made on Internet gambling;
the ones that do benefit are the offshore
companies that run online casino websites. But
why put sanctions on these grounds?
Instead of prohibition, the more positive move
that the US government could have done is to
regulate online casinos transacting with
American citizens. They could have required
these online casinos to obtain licenses from the
US federal government as well as subject them to
taxation.
With regards the social aspect, it cannot be
denied that in passing UIGEA, the US federal
government infringes on each citizen’s right to
do whatever he/she pleases with his/her money
and time. Whether or not to engage in Internet
gambling is a personal issue that an individual
must address for him/herself.
True enough, there are risks involved in that a
person may gamble away his/her life savings or
the money reserved for his/her children’s
college education, but that still lies in the
realm of personal decision-making. The federal
government does not have the right to dictate
how a person may decide for him/herself. To do
so is to treat the citizenry like children.
In April of 2007, US Congressman Barney Frank
wrote a bill that is supposed to negate UIGEA.
Instead of implementing UIGEA, the bill will see
to the set up of an appropriate framework that
will regulate and impose taxes on Internet
gambling in the US. Congressman Frank’s
rationale behind the bill is that UIGEA
interferes with the personal freedom of the
citizenry to do as they want with their money,
including online gambling.
It is a brave and sound move, this motion made
by Congressman Frank. May he succeed in his
endeavor, as he should.
