One Final Nail In The US Online Gambling Coffin
The government has finally published the UIGEA regulations thus closing a profitable chapter of Internet history. Last week the good people over at the DOJ published a 52 page document sealing the fate of online gambling in the US.
The papers represent what everyone expected which is a total ban on any and all financial transactions between banks and online gambling companies. It will be December before the regulations become law but as the past few months have shown, there’s not much hope of reversing this one. Its very sad.
As much fun as online gambling has brought to so many US players, the least we can do is give it a memorable send off…
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Did it really (nail the coffin)? Do the proposed regulations contain any surprises?
“The Agencies are proposing to exempt all participants in the ACH systems, check
collection systems, and wire transfer systems, except for the participant that possesses the
customer relationship with the Internet gambling business”
More highlights:
“Based on the Agencies’ research and statements by industry representatives, the Agencies believe that most unlawful Internet gambling businesses do not have direct account relationships with U.S. financial institutions. In most cases, their accounts are held at offshore locations of foreign institutions that are not subject to the Act”
“In the case of payment transactions for the benefit of offshore gambling businesses, none of the participants in the United States that process the transaction would have a direct relationship with the gambling business that receives the payment and would, under the general regulatory requirements, be exempt and not required to have policies and procedures to prevent or prohibit restricted transactions.”
“The Act does not mention the creation of a list of unlawful Internet gambling businesses. However, the Agencies are aware that there is some interest in exploring this idea.”
Thanks for your comments, you are preaching to the choir. I’m on your side, trust me I’d like to think there is some hope.
Yes, I had read a lot of happy sounding text also and its clear that the regs do not clamp down on checks or possibly ACH but…..IMHO, its over for US online gambling unless the land based casinos now move to corner that market.
However, I’m no big expert this is certain and a lot of people are still working some angles so it will be interesting to see if anything develops and if anyone has the financial backing to take on the .gov. I don’t think so, but we’ll see.
Hopefully, if so, they will have more clout that Barney Frank. Like I said before, this is a very sad thing for gaming. The US should have followed the UK’s lead and taxed it.
Again, thank you for your comments and the quotes.
Mark