H.R. 2143 - Amendments...Good News?

[Emperor]

Ok here are the amendments to the Bill that passed the House and my take on them.

1. States that this bill does not override current Federal, State, tribal Laws.

2. The Bill does not apply to Credit Card transactions. - WOOHOO!

3. The states that currently have state run gambling websites (horse & dog racing) are not exempt from this Bill.


Personally I think amendment number 3 contradicts number 1, but what do I know.

If you read the Bill, it does not apply to websites that hold tournaments (Poker, Chess, any "educational" game) where the buy-in and payout is fixed before the tournament.

Thoughts?

[GrannyMae]

Thoughts?


here are some thoughts from an attorney

this is an interesting quote from above article:

<font color="red"> "The MasterCard decision is important because the Court held that the Wire Act is limited to sports bets. Thus, under federal law, as it is now written, Internet casinos and lotteries are legal."</font color>
I. Nelson Rose

[informer]

Look carefully at the bill and the amendments. Their was a seperate vote on the amendments and all failed passage. These amendments were made to make the legislation useless. Again none of the amendments you mention were ACTUALLY amended to the bill.

[fnurt]

Internet casinos are currently not prohibited under FEDERAL law. But they may very well be prohibited under STATE law, depending on which state you live in. Playing a slot machine online would definitely be illegal in many states.

I'm not familiar with the court decisions on whether poker is considered gambling (as opposed to a game of skill) but that would be a separate issue.

[GrannyMae]

doesn't federal law supersede state law? i don't know

[HUSKER'66]

As mentioned earlier, these amendments were not allowed to be added to H.R 2143 as it was presented and passed by the house. The bill is in the "limbo" state and has not come before the senate for approval as of this date. If you read the wording of the bill as it was passed, it does prohibit funding your account/s with A: "credit or the proceeds of credit, extended to or on behalf of such other person ( including credit extended through the use of a credit card )B:an electronic fund transfer or funds transmitted by or through a money transmitting business (insert Neteller/Firepay/Paypal here)or the proceeds of an EFT or money transmitting service C: any check, draft, or similiar instrument which is drawn by or on behalf of the other person and is drawn or payable at or through any financial institution or D: the proceeds of any other form of financial transaction as the Federal funtional regulators may prescribe which involves a financial instituion as a payor or financial intermediary on behalf of or for the benefit of the other person (you the customer). One congressman called online poker the "crack" of the world wide web, and accused gaming sites of targeting children with their cartoon character type graphics. Hang on guys/gals, it's going to be a bumpy ride! [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

[fnurt]

The technical answer is that federal law "kinda" supersedes state law...

That doesn't sound very technical, come to think of it [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

In terms of criminal law it's best just to think of them as separate systems. Murder isn't illegal under federal law either (unless you're murdering a federal employee, etc), but of course it's illegal under state law. By the same token, when I say Internet casinos are legal under federal law, I don't mean Congress has passed a bill saying "they are legal," I just mean there's no law about it one way or the other. When the federal government hasn't said anything about an issue then it's left to the states to do as they please.

[thomastem]

This Bill hasn't passed yet but if it did does anyone know when it would take effect? Are work arounds for moving money possible? How can this be outlawed in States where gambling is legal without outlawing the current "land" casinos? Are you telling me all ATMs have to come out of the casinos and only cash can be exchanged? B&amp;M Casinos can't write you a check or accept one?

[J.R.]

Only when they conflict. There is no conflict here, as there is no federal law making online gaming legal, just one that has been interpreted as not making it illegal.

[Emperor]

Its called the "Unlawful Internet Gambling Funding Prohibition Act"

It has nothing to do with B&amp;M Casinos/Cardrooms