Senator's Response to Letter on Internet Gambling Act

[SoftcoreRevolt]

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That statement has always seemed like a joke to me. There is currently no (effective) mechanism in place to prevent children from watching porn

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This really really bugs me. Its unbelievably easy for a child to get on to porn sites on the internet. Some are pay sites, and they could use their parents credit card for that. In addition, i bet online porn has ruined many many more adult lives than internet gambling.

I really have no idea, but how much criminal activity goes on over gambling sites? Is it really a huge way for people to launder money or whatever else. Is it a bigger problem than probably thousands of low budget porn makers around the country that use 18 year old girls who are desperate for money? Also could someone explain to me why this is legal while prostitution is not? I really see little diffrence.

I guess my point is, how can playing a card game on the internet become illegal, while pornography online is perfectly acceptable?

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Anyone who's had their life ruined by PORN is a giant tool.

And the government is WAY tougher on the porn industry than online gambling. I have friends in the sex industry and the government makes it very frustrating to make a living.

[TruePoker CEO]

"I am also concerned that there are currently no mechanisms in place to prevent children - who make up the largest percentage of Internet users - from using their parents' credit card numbers to register and set up accounts for use at Internet gambling sites."

This is as ridiculous a notion as any I have heard:

1. Parents probably should NOT be giving their credit caerd numbers and CVVs to their kids .... (If their kids steal from their parents, then there is a bigger issue for the parents there. Finding out about it this way is not the worst thing that could happen.)

2. Mom and Dad could refuse to pay and "chargeback".

3. Sites have EVERY incentive to disallow underage credit card use.

[JPNet]

Exactly, there is already a mechanism in place, it is called Parent Supervision.

Additionally, this is like many other statements being made. It is being used by underage children who use their parents credit cards. Well, is it? How many underage individuals are gambling online? How many of them use their parents credit cards to do it? We don't know, but being politicians, and masters of all that is obvious, it must be a big problem that needs immediate attention.

Likewise with money laundering. Has any politician, or the DOJ, come up with 1 example of money laundering through online gambling in the last 10 years? Must be a huge problem!

And what is the best way to combat these problems if they exist, or could happen. Option 1 enact laws that are largely unenforceable and meaningless in an attempt to push the problem further underground. Or 2 License it, regulate it and tax it in order to have some control and be in a position to help in defining standards.

Well obviously the best approach it to pretend that the US can pass a law banning online gambling and that it will then go away.

[Sobe]

online gambling will not stop until they can making smoking illegal

[daedalus]

I think Vitter is just pissed he didn't get rakeback at Party.

[Guyon]

i call shenanegans

vice and morality legislation through and through. vitter lived 3 blocks from me before the storm, and if i would have known about this nonsense back then, i would have sat on his lawn and 9 tabled 6-max

[Bob Ciaffone]

Every time someone like Senator Vitter talks about internet gambling legislation, we need to stress that we are playing POKER, and need to be treated differently under the law. If our country regulates rather than bans online poker, it is much better positioned to do things like prevent underage gambling.

[goodgrief]

Bob, you misunderstand the Senator's position. He is not interested in a debate between reasonable people, something I doubt he is mentally or philosophically capable of in the first place. He wants to protect the income from the B&M casinos that pay taxes to the state of Louisiana, and the Native American reservations that pay bribes to GOP senators. Online gambling in any form is in direct competition with his goals and probably he feels it actually takes cash out of his own pocket. He cares censored-all if online poker is a game of skill or chance or that the kiddies will have to use Mommy's credit card to visit a porn site instead of a poker site. David Vitter's only interest is David Vitter. Period. End of sentence. As I said in my first post in this thread, I would be hard-pressed to think of a more useless human being. It makes it more challenging that our state is fighting for its life financially. It's crazy to think that any of our Louisiana politicians are going to be able to support the legalization of online gambling when we are fighting for every bit of revenue possible. But David Vitter was a particularly poor choice of contact.