In America, Congressman Barney Frank has announced that he intends to step up his efforts at passing legislation repealing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006.

'I'm going to be pushing it,' the Massachusetts Democrat told reporters late last week at a press conference designed to lay out his agenda for reforming US financial regulation.

According to a report from the Reuters news agency, work on drafting legislation overturning UIGEA should be completed later this month.

UIGEA prohibits businesses from knowingly accepting payments in connection with illegal online gambling including payments made through credit cards, electronic fund transfers and checks. The three-year-old prohibition has hurt trade ties with European Union as online gambling providers based in Europe lost billions in market value after they withdrew from the American market.

Advocates of lifting UIGEA have stated that it is impingement of personal liberty and estimate that the Federal Government could raise nearly $52 billion in revenues over the next decade by taxing and regulating Internet gambling.

However, supporters of the ban, which was passed by a Republican-controlled Congress, argue that offshore online gambling websites take billions of dollars out of the US economy, damage families and serve as vehicles for money laundering.


Source: iGamingBusiness.com