US Online Gambling Bill Modified By House Judiciary Committee

by Glen Shapiro, LawAndTax-News.com, New York

16 May 2003

The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee this week voted to modify legislation designed to prevent credit card payments to online gambling sites, creating competing drafts which are likely to divide representatives.

The Committe decided by a 16-15 margin on Wednesday to remove language which would have exempted legal casinos and state-supported gambling businesses from the terms of the legislation, meaning that the House must now choose between the modified version of the bill passed by the Judiciary Committee, and the original version passed by the Financial Service Committee in March.

Speaking to the media following the vote, Rep Chris Cannon (R-Utah) explained that he had sponsored the amendment because he feared that the bill as it stood could make gambling legal in his home state, and also because he did not want to increase the compliance burden on the credit card industry, much of which already blocks payments to gambling websites voluntarily.

'I don't want to create dampers or difficulties for Internet commerce,' he revealed.

According to a Reuters report, the 1,800 offshore gambling websites which are the main target of the legislation are expected to take more than $2 billion in revenue from US residents this year.

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