Online Gambling Industry Finds Obama Case of Meet the New Boss...

Observers from the world of online gambling had expected big changes when Barack Obama became President, but so far they can't tell the difference.

Online gambling insiders, thrilled initially at the prospects of an Obama administration, are reluctantly admitting not much is different on the part of the federal government regarding Internet gaming. Obama's promises of "Change" have yet to show actuality in the world of online gambling, as Bush-type policies and prosecutions continue.

Obama had been noted during the election for his promise of a free and uncensored Internet, and he bragged of his personal poker playing. An early electronic polling of citizens by the new White House staff found online poker legalization to be the top technological issue for constituents.

Yet the Department of Justice has, if anything, ramped up its efforts to exterminate US online gambling. Online poker bank accounts have been seized in the past few months, as US attorneys attempt to block payment transactions.

Policies regarding the placement of tribal land into trust and the allowance of off-reservation casinos have both proceeded uninterrupted on Bush lines, denying Indians casino locations closer to population bases.

And Barney Frank's bill sits in the House, publicly unnoticed by the President, who seems to have strongly voiced opinions on virtually everything else.

Lawyers representing the US government continue to choose tactics designed to score legal points over a pursuit of truth and justice, as evidence that the UIGEA is already failing is fought admittance to court and New Jersey's governor is opposed as he attempts to join a suit as his state's representative.

While it is still early in Obama's term, online gambling operators are starting to wonder if the road to justice and personal freedom is as long as ever, and if Pete Townshend was once again prescient when he said to "meet the new boss, same as the old boss."