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President Bush signs online gambling law |
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Thursday, 26 October 2006 |
 Active Image | Bryan Tarnowski | Photo Illustration
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by JAMISON DORAN
News Reporter
Gambling online is now illegal, thanks to the signing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act by President George W. Bush Oct. 13.
The law, which was passed by the U.S. Congress Sept. 30, shuts down the
estimated $12 billion a year industry of online gambling.
Stacey K. Waldrup, a senior English major, disagrees with the legislation.
“It’s your right to be able to gamble,” Waldrup said. “It shouldn’t be the government’s business.”
According to an article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, there are over 2,000 poker or gambling sites on the Internet.
“You’re spending your own money, which the government should not be
allowed to regulate,” Anthony S. Martinat, a senior political science
major, said. “Lotteries and casinos are still legal, so this should be
too.”
Several online poker Web sites have already shut down because they have lost over half their revenue.
Partypoker.com, which gets 90 percent of its business from Americans,
has not shut down yet but has posted a message on its homepage urging
Americans to take action against this legislation.
Some Web sites are still allowing Americans to play despite the passage of this law.
Intertops.com continues to take bets from U.S. citizens.
In a statement on the Intertops.com Web site, they “consider online
gaming to be legal in most U.S. states and sanctioned by the World
Trade Organization…we comply with every law within the jurisdiction
that we operate.”
This legislation has been met with both criticism and support.
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) voted in favor of the bill “in order to
protect Americans from the dangers of Internet gambling,” she said in a
statement on her Web site.
Sophomore business major Jeremy L. Dale thinks the law is ineffective.
“I think it’s a good idea, but people will still gamble, they’ll find a
way around it and it won’t have a real affect on the gambling
community,” Dale said.
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