An important read: The Libertarian Party's stance on the ban

<CENTER>Congress Chooses to Legislate Morality with Internet Gambling Ban

Tens of Millions of Americans Dealt a Losing Hand</CENTER>
(Washington, D.C.) Over the past weekend, a bill was passed by Congress that essentially bans Internet gambling within the United States.

Tennessee Senator and supposed presidential hopeful, Bill Frist, snuck the legislation into a port security bill which passed with only two dissenting votes. The new regulations, which will go into effect when George W. Bush signs the bill, will ban wire transfers to online gaming companies.

Supporters of the legislation accuse online gaming companies of being involved in money laundering operations and, according to the Washington Post, even fronts for terrorist groups.

"This goes beyond the absurd," exclaimed Shane Cory, executive director of the Libertarian National Committee. "Using the supposed War on Terror in defense of this legislation designed to legislate morality is sickening. Using this same reasoning, Congress should close Vegas as 9/11 Hijacker Mohamed Atta made a least two trips to the 'Sin City' before setting out to murder thousands of Americans."

In addition to citing money laundering and terrorism as excuses for the new Internet restrictions championed by Republican politicians, proponents also state that online gambling targets children and gambling addicts.

"Once again, we see politicians in Washington attempting to protect us from what they see as wrong in this world. I have news for them: Americans are smart people who can take care of themselves AND their children," continued Cory. "In restricting Internet activities, I think it would make much more sense to ban instant messaging within Congressional offices rather than ban the online hobbies of millions of tax-paying citizens."

The Libertarian Party is working to stop poor legislation such as the ban on Internet gambling by electing principled and reasoned Libertarian leaders to public office at the local, state and federal levels of government.

That's why I'm a Libertarian....y'all should check out REASON Magazine and their online version at www.reason.com. They've been out in front of this issue for years. In particular, read the stuff Jacob Sullum has written on this--he's generally one of the smartest men in America. Here's a blog post about the issue from Monday with links to some of the better recent articles on this topic.

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Hedging Online Bets

Britain-based online gambling site 888 is disallowing U.S. customers from wagering due to pending legislation to definitively ban Internet gambling in the U.S. Full story here.


This follows from the arrests of two CEOs of fully legal (outside the U.S.) Internet gambling companies as they passed through the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave while traveling.


Back in July, when the feds first picked up BetOnSports' chief David Carruthers, Jacob Sullum took a long look at the nuanced madness of that action.


Arguably the most idiotic element of the new legislation, which would clarify what has been a gray area for a very long period of time, is that everyone involved knows that it's only a matter of time before online gambling is made fully legal in the U.S. As Greg Beato wrote in our May issue, legalized gambling has already moved from the Vegas Strip to Main Street. The question isn't if online gambling will be allowed, only when.