Congressional Hearing Finds Unanimous Disapproval of UIGEA

Federal officials from both the Treasury Department and the Fed lined up to testify against the efficacy of the UIGEA.

The head of the Federal Reserve's bank operations division told Congress today that the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act is so poorly written, actual enforcement of the law against online gambling is problematic at best. Louise Roseman stated, "The challenge we have is interpreting something, particularly federal laws, that Congress itself isn't sure what they mean."

Appearing before the House Financial Services subcommittee, Roseman testified on the difficulty in obeying the law, including the lack of clear defintion of what constitutes illegal internet gambling. Both horse racing and poker players have sound arguments as to why their business should be excluded from the law.

Furthermore, once exceptions are made and certain aspects of gambling are defined as legal within the U.S., then the country violates free trade agreements made with foreign nations, muddying the picture even more.

Federal officials from both the Treasury Department and the Fed lined up to testify against the efficacy of the UIGEA. Wayne Abernathy of the American Bankers' Association stated the effect of the UIGEA was to "make financial institutions the police, prosecutors, and judges in place of real law enforcement officers."

Congressman Barney Frank, who has proposed legislation to override the UIGEA and regulate and tax the online gambling industry, called the existing law, "A rather bizarre piece of legislation."

Condemnation for this atrocious bill, passed only because it was snuck onto a port safety bill as a rider, continues to be near unanimous, and comes from every facet possible, including the banking industry, government agencies, sovereign nations, the general public, and of course, the online gaming industry.