I found this article one the web, what do you think? Can this really happen?
A sea change for gambling
A new online wagering law will push the big players out of the U.S. market, a legal expert says.
By SCOTT LONG
Published October 5, 2006
An estimated 8-million Americans who wager over the Internet are sorting out the odds they can still play in the wake of new federal legislation making it difficult to fund online gambling accounts.
To online gambling legal expert Lawrence Walters, it appears "the game is over, so to speak, for American players."
"The closest thing we've ever seen to this kind of widespread federal prohibition is Prohibition on alcohol," Walters, an Orlando-area partner with the law firm of Weston, Garrou, DeWitt and Walters, said of the congressional legislation passed last weekend. "But here, we have a worldwide industry that has developed. It's become a part of our culture and part of the global economy, and overnight the United States has criminalized this ongoing economic force."
Walters talked Wednesday with the hosts of St. Petersburg Times' Ante Up! poker podcast about what effect the legislation will have on the $12-billion-a-year industry. Here are some excerpts:
Point blank, what does this mean for online gamblers?
For the individual gambler sitting behind a computer, it may not mean much, and no one will be going to prison under this new law. ... But it means a lot for the actual operators of the gambling sites and the banking institutions and financial institutions that service the industry. ... The industry has received this law, and interpreted it as an all-out ban on any further offering of Internet gambling to U.S. citizens, and all the major companies are now taking steps to stop any further service to online bettors in the United States.
Should gamblers start taking their money out of online sites?
If I were gambling man, which I'm not, I'd take my money and run. There's no telling what's going to happen to the deposits.
Will some of these sites close up shop?
Most of the major players are likely to pull out of the U.S. market, and the face of Internet gambling will change dramatically for American player.
Are there just too many loopholes in this law to make it effective?
Internet gambling is here to stay. And the U.S. government can pass laws until it is blue in the face and it's not going to stop the individual bettor from finding a way to place a bet online. For a little while, it's going to be tougher for the U.S. player to find a way to gamble online, but it's not going to be impossible.
Where do you think this is all going to head?
The industry has been clamoring for regulation for years. They don't want to operate as outlaws; they don't want to operate on the sidelines; they don't want to be marginalized. They want to operate as an embraced industry. They want to pay taxes. ... I would think that the industry would fight hard for some sort of regulation. But I can't imagine that this presidential administration will do a 180 and seek to embrace the online gambling industry.
A sea change for gambling
A new online wagering law will push the big players out of the U.S. market, a legal expert says.
By SCOTT LONG
Published October 5, 2006
An estimated 8-million Americans who wager over the Internet are sorting out the odds they can still play in the wake of new federal legislation making it difficult to fund online gambling accounts.
To online gambling legal expert Lawrence Walters, it appears "the game is over, so to speak, for American players."
"The closest thing we've ever seen to this kind of widespread federal prohibition is Prohibition on alcohol," Walters, an Orlando-area partner with the law firm of Weston, Garrou, DeWitt and Walters, said of the congressional legislation passed last weekend. "But here, we have a worldwide industry that has developed. It's become a part of our culture and part of the global economy, and overnight the United States has criminalized this ongoing economic force."
Walters talked Wednesday with the hosts of St. Petersburg Times' Ante Up! poker podcast about what effect the legislation will have on the $12-billion-a-year industry. Here are some excerpts:
Point blank, what does this mean for online gamblers?
For the individual gambler sitting behind a computer, it may not mean much, and no one will be going to prison under this new law. ... But it means a lot for the actual operators of the gambling sites and the banking institutions and financial institutions that service the industry. ... The industry has received this law, and interpreted it as an all-out ban on any further offering of Internet gambling to U.S. citizens, and all the major companies are now taking steps to stop any further service to online bettors in the United States.
Should gamblers start taking their money out of online sites?
If I were gambling man, which I'm not, I'd take my money and run. There's no telling what's going to happen to the deposits.
Will some of these sites close up shop?
Most of the major players are likely to pull out of the U.S. market, and the face of Internet gambling will change dramatically for American player.
Are there just too many loopholes in this law to make it effective?
Internet gambling is here to stay. And the U.S. government can pass laws until it is blue in the face and it's not going to stop the individual bettor from finding a way to place a bet online. For a little while, it's going to be tougher for the U.S. player to find a way to gamble online, but it's not going to be impossible.
Where do you think this is all going to head?
The industry has been clamoring for regulation for years. They don't want to operate as outlaws; they don't want to operate on the sidelines; they don't want to be marginalized. They want to operate as an embraced industry. They want to pay taxes. ... I would think that the industry would fight hard for some sort of regulation. But I can't imagine that this presidential administration will do a 180 and seek to embrace the online gambling industry.
