Good News for Online Poker Players?Gambling911.com waited with baited breath for an announcement to come forward from iMEGA.org. The trade organization which has been challenging an online poker prohibition law passed last October, claims an announcement of some type regarding their case against the US Government is coming this week.
"There should be some fresh news early next week (regarding the case)," iMEGA.org founder, Joe Brennan, Jr. told Gambling911.com last Friday, the reference being to this week.
To date, iMEGA's case against the US government offers the best chance of repealing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).
While a handful of Senators have offered proposals to repeal the act, all face an uphill battle and none have even made it to the Committee Floor. Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, who helped draft the infamous online poker and gambling legislation, had been trying unsuccessfully to do so for nearly an entire decade.
The first hearing in the US District Court of New Jersey (Trenton Division) in the matter of iMEGA v. Gonzales, et al, has been moved to Sept. 26th, by mutual consent of the plaintiff (iMEGA) and the defendants (US Dept. of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors).
In addition, the Hon. Judge Mary L. Cooper will now hear oral arguments on iMEGA's petition for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), as well as the Government's routine motion for dismissal. This all favors iMEGA.
The injunction, if granted, will prevent the government from enforcing the UIGEA and pave the way for Internet gambling to resume pending further order of the court.
“The purpose of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act is to prevent Americans from engaging in their fundamental rights to conduct their lives in the manner they wish to live it - to be free from the government imposing public morality in the privacy of one’s home”, says Eric M. Bernstein, Esq., attorney for iMEGA.
The Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association was established to be a voice of reason in Washington and around the world for the fair, equitable, and rational governance of interactive Internet commerce and communications. Edward Leyden, President of iMEGA, hopes the lawsuit will open the eyes of Legislators encouraging regulation and taxation of Internet gaming. Without transparency, American consumers who gamble online are left without standards of practice or consumer protections.
“Two major benefits come immediately from U.S. recognition and regulation of Internet gaming; transparency and tax revenues,” said Leyden. “As with the U.S. financial markets, transparency assures that broad access to relevant data and the balancing forces of a free market all operate to maintain fairness and prevent corruption. Similarly, in this age of a yawning federal “tax gap,” U.S. taxation of Internet gaming transactions and companies could generate, more than $20 billion during the next several years–all while saving federal law enforcement dollars for the fight against terrorism and other dire issues.”
With the matter firmly locked into the court calendar, iMEGA is asking for donations to continue what will likely be a lengthy legal matter (assuming repeals). Donate here. And as always, be sure to donate to the Poker Players Alliance headed up by the honorable former New York Senator Alfonse D'Amato.
Both iMEGA and Gambling911.com will be sharing the podium in Barcelona, Spain at the European i-Gaming Conference and Expo October 2.
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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com
Originally published September 10, 2007 9:34 am ET
