cross-post to new proposed legislation

[Wynton]

In case no one here bothers to read the legislation section, here (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=4735753&an=0&page=0#Post 4735753) is a thread mentioning a new bill, expected to be introduced next week, prohibiting online gambling.

[threeonefour]

[censored] that this makes me so [censored] angry. its complete [censored]. the republican party is stumbling more and more these days. they used to be against big government.

we need some libertarians in office asap.

2+2 of virginia should try and organize something about this. maybe ill shoot off a letter to my representative (who is republican) as well.

EDIT: i am thinking worst case scenario. if this gets passed and they come after the poker world, i will probably be moving to canada. is that legit? or is it still against the law for american citizens regardless of where they are at?

[NLSoldier]

wow thats really gay.

why dont they just totally legalize it and take in tons of money when the sites pay taxes.

[Philuva]

Someone who is better at writing than me, should write a sample letter that voices opposition to these bills that people can cut and paste and send to their respective congressman.

[Nut4Dawgs]

Mass mail-in campaigns are almost totally ignored by pols. To get attention, or something resembling it, you have to be somewhat original and not look like somebody dumping a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy - they get those daily.

[TStoneMBD]

online gambling sites already pay alot of money to lobby against these bills.

[Zele]

So I guess the threat of Antiguan trade sanctions isn't the deterrent everyone thought it would be.

[send_the_msg]

there's a lot of american money tied up in these poker sites, not to mention pokerstars and others are owned by israeli families, aka america jr. the former being the most important reason it *probably* won't be banned... who knows though. what pisses me off more than banning online gambling is the idea that entire portions/sites on the internet can be cut off to certain countries. govt should not have it's hands in the only international free voice ever created.

[jrbick]

I tried to pounce on this last summer, but all I got was a bunch of STFU-type of responses.

One major problem with this topic is that there is only one side of it being discussed. Only the anti-gambling pov is being discussed publicly.

If our side of the issue is publicized and an alternative pov is introduced, then things are just that much more in our favor.

Some points to make would be international trade, eCommerce, and simply the hypocricy of our government to pick and choose which type of gambling we can and cannot participate in (anything you can do online is permissable somewhere else).

Anyway, these are just some tired thoughts.

[Wynton]

Poker Player's Alliance has a link on their site for sending a form letter via web to your representatives, supporting poker rights in general (though not discussing this particular legislation). The link to their site is here. (http://www.pokerplayersalliance.org/index.html)

Last time the legislation was proposed, there was a better site that specifically dealt with the legislation. But it's easy to alter the Poker Player's Alliance form letter tomake it specific to the legislation, if you like.

[Philuva]

I think every player on here should write their congressman voicing their opposition to HR 4411 and any other legislation trying to criminalize online poker. Some points you can include:

1. Poker is a game of skill played between adults where there is no house edge.
2. Online poker makes it easier for the IRS to audit electronic transactions to ensure all taxes are paid on winnings.
3. The funding options available to American citizens ensure:
a. Minors under the age of 18 are not playing
b. People with gambling problems are not able to go into debt or fund large losses quickly
4. Most states would be hypocrites for running a state lottery were the expected value is around $0.32 (pre-tax) back for every $1.00 they wager.
5. The intent of the Wire Act, which this Bill tries to expand, was to provide a means to help fight organized crime which does not exist in the online poker world. Online poker companies are large publicly traded corporations operating legally in Canada, England and the Caribbean.
6. If this bill is intended to stop people with gambling problems from gambling, it will have little effect as these people can easily find alternative means to gamble (including state sponsered lotteries). The U.S. government should work with the online poker industry to fund gambling support groups which would be much more effective.

Thats off the top of my head.
Phil