Barney Frank and Fellow House Legislators Requests Delay of UIGEA Enforcement

Barney Frank and eighteen other legislators are requesting a delay of the enforcement of the UIGEA in the US (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) on October 7th, 2009. The anti-online gaming law was originally approved in 2006 but is officially to go into effect on December 1st, 2009 forcing banks in the United States to stop fund transfers with existing online gaming groups.

Frank and the legislators sent a letter to the US Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve asking for the date of the UIGEA compliance to be extended by one year. The letter also urged both departments to seriously consider a joint-petition filed by the Poker Players Alliance, the American Greyhound Track Operators Association and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association requestng the enforcement of the UIGEA to be delayed.

The legislators said in the letter that they believed that this is an unreasonable and unfair burden on regulators and the financial services industry especially wityh the economic crisis. The UIGEA has been criticized for its failure to clearly define what types of gaming are not allowed online, making it very difficult for financial organizations to decide what transactions should be denied.

Barney Frank also introduced two poker-related gaming bills this session which calls for the legalization and regulation of the online gaming industry. Both bills are still pending. The legalization and regulation poker bill currently has sixty co-sponsors while the UIGEA delay bill has forty-eight co-sponsors.

October 26, 2009
Brian Nelson