Weekly Actions to Fight for Online Gaming
 

Hi everyone,

I'm upset by UIGEA, the recent heavy-handed Justice Dept. actions against various gaming sites, the Neteller issue, and many other issues where we've been targeted. We are good, law-abiding citizens under attack by nanny-staters who wish to pry into our homes and tell us what to do.

Rather than sitting back and taking it, I decided to initiate weekly actions on the Legislation forum, at Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Weekly action thread. I don't determine or dictate the actions; rather, all the members decide via posted polls and comments. I merely combine the group discussion results and post them as action plans.

I'd like to ask everyone here to participate. Please be sure to check the thread often for the latest action plan. Thanks!

P.S. Let's keep all the discussion in the main thread in Legislation. Thanks.

Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for weeks of 7/2 & 7/9
 

Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for weeks of 7/2 & 7/9

Summary of actions:
1. Write to the USTR and Sen. Reid
1a. Sign the petition at www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/306149419
2. Write to Atty. Gen Gonzales, Fed Chair Bernanke, and Treas. Sec. Paulson
3. Write to newspapers
4. Write to Congress

Please see Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Weekly action thread for details.

Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for weeks of 7/2 & 7/9
 

Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 7/16

Summary of actions:
1. Contact Steven D. Laughton (the UIGEA Treasury Dept. focal point), Treas. Sec. Paulson, and Atty. Gen Gonzales, and Steven D. Laughton to advocate for minimum UIGEA regs.
2. Post the link to the "Repeal UIGEA" online petition at www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/306149419 wherever you can (blogs, libertarian sites, Wikipedia, etc.), as it will be hand-delivered to each senator and representative later this month.
3. Write to Congress
4. Write to newspapers and post to blogs

Please see Fight for Online Gaming!! for details. Thanks!

Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for weeks of 7/2 & 7/9
 

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Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for weeks of 7/2 & 7/9
 

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1a. Sign the petition at www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/306149419

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While you are there giving away your email address, check out their privacy policy so you will see just how easy it will be for this third-party site, whose main interest is marketing, to make sure your information is sold to every spammer willing to pay for a mailing list.

Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for weeks of 7/2 & 7/9
 

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1a. Sign the petition at www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/306149419

[/ QUOTE ]

While you are there giving away your email address, check out their privacy policy so you will see just how easy it will be for this third-party site, whose main interest is marketing, to make sure your information is sold to every spammer willing to pay for a mailing list.

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Anyone using their primary email address for online petitions, online chat boards, or anything like that should expect to wind up on a spam list, actually. Not the end of the world. The fact of the matter is that these will be hand-delivered to Washington, and FoF is whining about it. Seems worth it to me. So, use a throw-away email, or the one you use for other online activities, but please sign this....it's worth it.

By the way, I noticed no increase in spam as a result of my participation. Just remember to deselect the two boxes giving them permission to send you crap.

Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for weeks of 7/2 & 7/9
 

Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 7/23

Summary of actions:
1. Write to Treasury and DOJ officials AT LEAST ONCE PER WEEK to request the minimum possible UIGEA regulations.
2. Write to your governor and to your state representatives.
3. Regularly write to Congress.
4. Write to newspapers and post to blogs.

Please see Fight for Online Gaming!! for details. Thanks!

Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for weeks of 7/30
 

Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 7/30

Action:
- Call Sen. Barack Obama on Monday, 7/30, and on Thursday, 8/2 to ask for his support. Post notice of this call effort wherever possible.

Ongoing advocacy:
1. Write to Treasury and DOJ officials AT LEAST ONCE PER WEEK to request the minimum possible UIGEA regulations.
2. Regularly contact Congress.
3. Contact your governor and to your state representatives.
4. Write to newspapers and post to blogs.

Please see Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 7/30 for details. Thanks!

Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for weeks of 7/30
 

Glancing at the tread title, I thought it read 'Action Figures Fight Online Gaming'.

Imagine my disappointment when I opened the tread.

Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for weeks of 7/30
 

Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for weeks of 8/6 & 8/13

Action:
- Write to Congress (your senators and your rep) with a rebuttal to one of the 8/1 FoF letters.
- Write to Congress (your senators and your rep) to ask for their support and to ask where they stand on Internet gaming. Reference the Congressmen For and Against Online Gambling article in the letter.

Ongoing advocacy:
1. Write to Treasury and DOJ officials AT LEAST ONCE PER WEEK to request the minimum possible UIGEA regulations.
2. Regularly contact Congress.
3. Contact your governor and to your state representatives.
4. Write to newspapers and post to blogs.

Please see Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for weeks of 8/6 & 8/13 for details. Thanks!

Fight for Online Poker!! Weeks of 9/24 & 10/1
 

Fight for Online Poker!! Weeks of 9/24 & 10/1

1. It’s time for an IGREA and SGPA push. This year’s Congressional session will end soon, so let’s ALL get some letters out to Congress this week and next (including House and Senate leaders)!

2. Write to Congress (separate letters from the ones above) and to five U.S. companies to explain the upcoming WTO trade concessions. Let them know they’re expected to finance online horse racing and fantasy football.

3. Continue to write to the NFL and their sponsors to complain about the NFL’s advocacy of a ban for all Internet gaming (which goes beyond sports betting and beyond even UIGEA). Ask the NFL to negotiate a pro-poker deal with Rep. Frank.

4. Regularly write to newspapers and post to blogs. A few posts here and there can start to put us in the national zeitgeist.

Please see Fight for Online Poker!! Weeks of 9/24 & 10/1 for details. Thanks!

Important action alert!!
 

Important action alert!!

The proposed UIGEA regulations have been released by the Department of the Treasury for public comment. This is our chance to affect the regs, as our comments. I ask everyone here who cares about Internet poker will submit comments in favor of freedom and liberty. Thanks!

The PPA has released a list of talking points for our comments. That way, we know our comments align with the best interests of poker. The article is at http://pokerplayersalliance.org/news...le.php?DID=293.

1. The proposed regulations should be modified to clarify that they don’t cover games predominantly determined by skill, such as poker, bridge, mahjong and backgammon. Section 5362(1)(a) of UIGEA defines a bet or wager as “the staking or risking by any person of something of value upon the outcome of a contest of others, a sporting event, or a game subject to chance,…” “Subject to chance” can be interpreted in a variety of ways, but in a gambling context it should reasonably be taken to mean games like roulette or slots where players bet against “the house” and success is determined by chance. Poker players compete, not against the house, but against each other, and the success of a player over any significant time interval is determined by that players’ skill.

2. The regulators must define what is and isn’t “unlawful Internet gambling.” The federal and state laws governing Internet gambling are very ambiguous -- nearly all of them were written before the advent of the Internet, and it is not clear how they apply to Internet gaming. In the proposed rule, the regulators emphasize that it is not their intention to clarify this question, because to do so would require them to examine the laws of every state with respect to every gaming modality. Yet that is exactly what they are requiring every bank and payment system to do individually.

3. The regulators should refrain from implementing the regulations until the U.S. resolves its international trade disputes. The World Trade Organization has found the U.S. to be out of compliance with its obligations under the General Agreement on Trade in Services because of its attempts at prohibiting Internet gambling. This is likely to cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars in lost market share and export opportunities. The U.S. government is in negotiations with its trading partners over this matter. Inasmuch as these regulations arguably make that situation worse, the regulators should hold off on finalizing the regulations until the U.S. can resolve its international trade obligations.

4. The proposed regulations should not infringe on personal privacy. UIGEA deputizes banks and payment systems and turns them into the Internet morality police. These regulations should not compel banks to scrutinize the private transactions of individual poker players and others. To do so is hostile to the personal and financial privacy of every American with a credit card or checking account.

5. The UIGEA and the enforcing regulations should not apply to Internet poker nationwide. Federal case law has consistently held that the Wire Act applies only to sports betting and very few states have any laws against Internet poker. These regulations should be clear to only block those transactions which are in fact against the law. Games of skill which are not outlawed under current federal law – such as poker, chess, bridge and majong -- should be exempt from the UIGEA and the regulations.



The Legislation Forum discussion thread is at http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showfl...=1#Post12525391.

Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for weeks of 7/2 & 7/9
 

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Summary of actions:
1. Write to the USTR and Sen. Reid




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Sen Reid must pull his head out of his azz before he can view your opinion. This idiot will do nothing for you....he is in office for self-promotion

Re: Important action alert!!
 

After the WCOOP fiasco and the AP mess, I just don't see how I can go on defending online poker. These poker sites are unreal in their actions. What we need is regulated sites here in the US, not some Kahnawake regulatory body.

Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for weeks of 7/2 & 7/9
 

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[ QUOTE ]


Summary of actions:
1. Write to the USTR and Sen. Reid




[/ QUOTE ]
Sen Reid must pull his head out of his azz before he can view your opinion. This idiot will do nothing for you....he is in office for self-promotion

[/ QUOTE ]

We still have to write to him and to others like him. It often seems we shouldn't engage our opponents because we think they won't change. This emboldens our opponents, who assume there is no opposition to their position.

Besides this, if we improve our standing with an opponent, we gain. For example, if we take an ardent opponent and get him to merely vote against us when bills finally get to the floor of Congress (no cosponsoring of bils against us, etc), we win.

Our opponents shouldn't be allowed to draw for free, IMO. I hope we'll all do our part to be heard.

Re: Important action alert!!
 

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After the WCOOP fiasco and the AP mess, I just don't see how I can go on defending online poker. These poker sites are unreal in their actions. What we need is regulated sites here in the US, not some Kahnawake regulatory body.

[/ QUOTE ]

Both bills in Congress to that. Additionally, explicit legality will drive more competition, which will improve the quality of the game.

I hope you'll write to Congress in support of these. Thanks.

Re: Important action alert!!
 

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