U.S. congresswoman urges preservation of internet gambling

[The Buzz]

U.S. congresswoman Dina Titus, who represents the state of Nevada, asked the federal government to keep internet gambling legal in a letter sent to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Tuesday.

Below is a copy of the letter:

I write urging you not to rescind the 2011 Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel interpretation of the Wire Act.

As you know, this opinion clarified that the Wire Act only applies to sports betting and does not prohibit other forms of online gaming. Since this determination was made, Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania have passed laws to legalize and regulate forms of online gaming.

I represent Nevada's First Congressional District, home to the world famous Las Vegas Strip, historic Downtown Las Vegas, the largest gaming companies in the world, and hundreds of smaller casinos. Much of the legal gaming in the U.S. occurs in my congressional district.

Accordingly, Nevada has set the gold standard when it comes to gaming regulation and consumer protections. Our community is home to a number of respected gaming experts, including casino executives, regulators, and scholars with decades of experience in the field.

In Las Vegas, we have seen that a regulated market is always better than an illegal one. Internet gaming will not go away with a reversal of Wire Act guidance; it will merely push more consumers into black markets. A reversal will only hurt businesses.

A letter from Senators Lindsey Graham and Dianne Feinstein to you on the matter erroneously references the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) as legislation that banned internet gambling. However, the passage of UIGEA in 2006 specifically authorized intrastate internet gambling so long as states apply certain safeguards. Congress did not prohibit it, but instead created the parameters under which it could exist.

There are extensive consumer protections in place enforced by state law enforcement authorities in states where online gaming is legal and regulated. The Graham-Feinstein letter uses fear tactics and hyperbolic language to emphasize their distaste for online gaming. While they claim online gaming "preys on children," in Nevada there are effective technological safeguards in place to verify age and location, and regulators can impose additional requirements to further mitigate the risk of play by minors. In contrast, unregulated internet gaming sites provide no assurances that minors will be prevented from gambling; and there is copious evidence that businesses involved in illegal online gaming have left the regulated online gaming markets in Nevada, Delaware, and New Jersey.

I encourage you to carefully study this issue and consult with industry leaders, regulators, and consumers before reversing Wire Act guidance in a way that could eliminate jobs in the online gaming industry, infringe on states' rights, and exacerbate growth of the illegal online gaming market.

In January, New Jersey members of Congress from both parties urged Rosenstein in a letter to keep internet gambling legal. That letter followed one in November from Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, and Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, of California, asking the Justice Department to change course and have Congress determine whether to permit online gambling.

Read more here: https://lasvegassun.com/news/2018/ma...internet-gamb/

[Buddy M]

It sure is nice to see both sides of the isle coming together on this. Rep. Jason Chaffetz was a voice in the House who opposed online gambling. As of February of this year he no longer is a representative and since he had some clout in certain circles of DC, with him being out now it may be of some help for the cause. I actually liked some of what he stood for, but I did write him several times on the online gaming situation just to voice my opine; not that I think of of them actually read their email from the small folk!