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The History of the UIGEA And Its Effects Over The Past 6 Years

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CareyG

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Joe Falchetti
October 15, 2012

“6 years ago, on October 13th 2006. George Bush signed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, Joe Falchetti submitted a look back at the history of the bill and its effects over the past 6 years.” If you would like to submit an editorial please contact Bill Beatty.


The UIGEA, is an acronym for Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, a bill which was passed in 2006, as part of the “Security and Accountability for Every Port Act of 2006” otherwise known as the SAFE Port Act. This law changed the landscape of online gambling in the US and affected internet gaming operations across the world.


Pre-UIGEA


Before the UIGEA, gambling online had been growing since the mid 1990s, as millions of people placed wagers with online Sportsbooks or played hands of online poker. Many social conservatives in the United States government wanted to put an end to all this off shore wagering.


The problem was that the law on internet gambling was extremely grey, or unwritten. Since the companies were not operating in the US, the owners could not be rounded up and arrested. The legality of placing wagers online was unclear, and lawmakers were not exactly industry experts. In fact, the last law on the books that could possibly pertain to online gambling was the 1961 Federal Wire Act, which relates to betting intrastate through telephone lines. Basically, there were no laws or authority on online wagering.


In 1999, there was an attempt to outlaw internet gambling in the form of the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act. The bill passed in the House, but died in the Senate. Now disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff was partly responsible for the failure of the bill, as he passed off funds to certain groups to oppose the legislation, and received inside information on ways to defeat it.


Factors Leading to Passage


A number of factors lead to the UIGEA’s passage in 2006. In the mid-term 2006 Congressional Elections, Congress was being overhauled. Republicans would probably lose out to Democrats, and it was rumored the latter were more pro online gambling or simply just apathetic to the issue. The Republicans, the more socially conservative party, had leaders that long wanted to put an end to internet gambling.


The Act, had many supporters across the Republican Party, but there are two main Senators who are credited with expediting its passage. Those two men were Jon Kyl and Bill Frist. Kyl had long been an advocate against the expansion of gambling and worked with Congressman Jim Leach, to bring the act quickly to the forefront.


Frist, a hard-line Republican, had been the Senate Majority leader since 2003, eyed a possible presidential campaign in 2008. He figured being the politician who “protected our children from the social and economic evils of online gambling” would look good in upcoming presidential elections. Thankfully, Frist’s presidential campaign never did materialize.

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