“It makes no sense whatsoever”, said Terri Lanni, about the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement (UIGE) Act.  Lanni, who is chairman of the American Gaming Association and the head of the land-based gambling firm, MGM Mirage, made the statement this week in an address to the G2E conference in Las Vegas.

He was referring to the new anti-online gambling legislation, which makes it illegal for banks and credit card companies to process transactions between online gambling sites and U.S. residents.  Lanni also told delegates that he was optimistic that the new Democratic leadership in Congress would be more willing to entertain the idea of legislating online gambling.

In a reference to the way the UIGE Act was rushed through Congress at the bottom of a bill about increased port security, Lanni said that “the Republican Party pandered to the religious right”.  In order to get the bill passed, Tennessee Senator, Bill Frist, had the bill tacked on to an important, but totally unrelated and popular port security bill.  Frist is now retiring from Congress as he considers a 2008 bid for the Presidency.

According to Lanni, MGM would like to see a commission appointed to study the feasibility of legislating online gambling in the United States.  Peter Dean, the head of the UK Gaming Commission, spoke at the G2E conference right after the MGM head and stated that “Britain wants to be second to none in the regulation of Internet gambling ...We firmly believe that the way forward is to regulate, rather than prohibit." Dean also said that, from the British point of view, the U.S. position on Internet gambling is a bit surprising since the “prohibition doesn't have a conspicuous record of success in this country ... the obvious result is that the activity is going to be driven underground".

Posted on: November 29, 2006

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