Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Weekly action thread

[TheEngineer]

Well, things look good. IGREA is gaining some steam. It has 19 cosponsors now. It remains to be seen if it can clear the House Financial Services Committee, but its mere existence is keeping our opponents at bay, as Frank stated in this interview. Also, HR 2140, Rep. Shelley Berkley's [D-NV] Internet gambling study bill, is progressing with 60 cosponsors. Unfortunately, as we all know, in anticipation of losing the WTO final appeal the USTR announced that the U.S. will withdraw from the gambling portion of the GATS agreement.

So, it seems there's a lot we can be doing right now. And, we really need to do it RIGHT NOW, before these politicians make up their minds. So, let's do the following:
<font color="brown">
1. If you haven't yet, please contact your congressman and senators by phone and by mail <u>for each individual issue</u>. For example, if you sent a pro-IGREA letter but said nothing about the WTO decision, please send a letter about the WTO decision. Here are issues deserving of separate letters and phone calls:

- Repeal UIGEA
- Support/cosponsor IGREA
- Protest the U.S. withdrawal from the gaming sector of GATS
- Support and cosponsor HR 2140, the study bill

Again, the PPA has an automailer at http://activate.pokerplayersalliance...t.php?rindex=1 . And, please tell your friends. Barney Frank asked us each to get six others to write to their congressmen. Perhaps post the PPA automailer web address in blogs (where it pertains to the topic, of course), or spam your friends and family. This isn't about specific legislation as much as it is demonstrating political support for freedom to choose to gamble online.

2. Write to President Bush, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, and Treasury Secretary Paulson. Ask them not to exceed the specific mandates of UIGEA when drafting legislation. Remind them that online poker is not illegal under any federal law. Focus on the Family is asking their members to write to Paulson and Bush to request tough regulations. See http://www.citizenlink.org/FOSI/gamb...A000004244.cfm , an effort funded by Focus. We should counterbalance this effort. Also, Sen. Kyl asked Gonzales for tough regulations during the AG Senate hearings. We should counterbalance this as well.

3. Now that we have bills out there, we should try to work on our public image. Let's write to newspapers, magazines, post to blogs, etc. with positives of online poker/gaming.

4. We've been focusing on the federal government to date, but there's a state component to this as well. Please write to your state representatives this week and ask him/her to sponsor a bill legalizing Internet gambling within your state. </font>

Thanks everyone!

[TheEngineer]

[ QUOTE ]
Engineer what do u feel will honestly happen on July 10th. My personal feel is that poker will be the same july 10th of this year next year and following years just as it is now. I honestly dont think were in for any big surprises

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm glad you asked. Many here think this, for some reason. Of course, last year people said the same thing about online casino and sports betting. They were wrong.

So, why do you think poker will be the same ten years from now? The DOJ is actively chasing down U.S.-facing sports books. They aren't simply waiting for the CEOs to enter America, either. Rather, the DOJ is extraditing these CEOs from foreign, sovereign nations. Once they run out of sports books, you think they'll stop and allow poker? Nah...we're next.

Skallagrim believes U.S.-facing poker sites are breaking federal law; UIGEA prohibits banking for gambling activities that violate state gambling laws, even misdemeanor state laws. Right or wrong, the fact that the DOJ can craft an argument that a federal law is being violated means trouble. Also, despite contrary appellate court rulings, the DOJ believes poker-only sites violate the Wire Act of 1961. So, even without legislation in our favor, we're at risk. We can no longer sit back and stay silent as we have for so long, IMO. With a great offense, we may be right where we are now in ten years. Without, I personally doubt that anything good will happen.

The other risk is future legislation. HR 4411 passed the House by a wide margin. HR 4777, a bill that banned Internet poker, was cosponsored by 1/3 of the House. Without a good offense, it's hard to imagine these zealots not introducing a new bill. While social conservatives have been weakened politically and internally, they're still gung-ho to outlaw our activities. We shouldn't give them the opportunity this time. If they try another law, they should know they'll pay some political price.

[TheEngineer]

My HR 2140 letter:


April 13, 2007

The Honorable Congressman
United States House of Representatives
Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1704

Dear Congressman:

I'm writing to request that you vote for and cosponsor HR 2140, Rep. Shelley Berkley's Internet gaming study bill. While the opponents of online gaming have made a list of potential issues purported to be caused by online gaming, there’s never been a study that either verifies the validity of these claims or examines potential mitigations. It seems this should be done prior to even considering a federal prohibition of Internet gambling, especially as this activity is legal in much of the rest of the world.

If Americans are to be less free than Europeans, perhaps we should at least have some substantiation to justify a federal power grab of this magnitude.

Thanks for your consideration.

Sincerely,

TheEngineer

[TheEngineer]

My WTO letter.

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The Honorable xxxx yyyy
United States House of Representatives
0000 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1704

Dear Congressman xxxxx:

As a Republican constituent and voter in your district, I am writing to express my objection to the United States’ withdrawal from the gaming sector (Article 21) of the GATS agreement. This unprecedented withdrawal, made in response to our loss to Antigua in a dispute heard by the WTO over Internet gambling access, will have far-reaching ramifications for the U.S. While the federal government seems to feel there is some driving national interest in legislating the moral beliefs of a few on all Americans by preventing us from playing poker online, the fact is that we need the WTO now more than ever. We have many trade disputes worldwide. We need access to markets and other trade controls. We need the WTO to deal effectively with China. Should we sacrifice this to satisfy the very few social conservatives who, despite the lack of even a single negative reference to gambling in the Bible, feel they have to tell OTHERS not to play poker in their OWN homes on their OWN computers?

I think not. Please ask President Bush to rescind this withdrawal from GATS. We made the commitment, so we should stick to it. The word of the U.S. should be our bond.

Thanks for your consideration.

Sincerely,

TheEngineer

[1meandog4u]

Would you have a problem if I give this letter to the members of the NCC (Neteller Customer Coalition)? They are itching for more action and this would get over 500 more angry Neteller customers to write their congressman..

thanks

[TheEngineer]

[ QUOTE ]
Would you have a problem if I give this letter to the members of the NCC (Neteller Customer Coalition)? They are itching for more action and this would get over 500 more angry Neteller customers to write their congressman..

thanks

[/ QUOTE ]

Please, go right ahead. Scroll up a few for some other letters as well. Also, PPA has a generic letter supporting IGREA at the link referenced in my action plan.

[delta k]

So July 10 is 'doomsday', or at least the day we find out what is going to happen?

I've sent the letter from the PPA, any other emails I should be sending?

[TheEngineer]

[ QUOTE ]
So July 10 is 'doomsday', or at least the day we find out what is going to happen?

I've sent the letter from the PPA, any other emails I should be sending?

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for writing to your congressman.

Focus on the Family is having their members write to Bush and Paulson (the Treasury Secretary) to urge tough UIGEA regs. Scroll up a few posts and check it out at the Fight for Online Gaming post. I think we should all write to Bush and Paulson, plus Gonzales (the AG).

[TheEngineer]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
So July 10 is 'doomsday', or at least the day we find out what is going to happen?

I've sent the letter from the PPA, any other emails I should be sending?

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for writing to your congressman.

Focus on the Family is having their members write to Bush and Paulson (the Treasury Secretary) to urge tough UIGEA regs. Scroll up a few posts and check it out at the Fight for Online Gaming post. I think we should all write to Bush and Paulson, plus Gonzales (the AG).

[/ QUOTE ]

As of 5-11-07, the regs were still unwritten. Sam Brownback met with Paulson, the Treaury Secretary, that day to try to browbeat him into regs that likely exceeded the mandate of UIGEA. So, there's time for us to write and call Paulson and Gonzales.

Here's an article from a Focus on the Family website:

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Treasury Department Delays Enforcement of Online Gambling Law
from staff reports
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000004603.cfm

Drafting of regulations has dragged on for months.

The U.S. Treasury Department is dragging its feet in writing regulations to accompany a law designed to stop the use of credit cards to pay for Internet gambling.

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., went to see Treasure Secretary Henry Paulson on Thursday to ask about the delay.

“Are they going to be committed to enforcing this law," Brownback asked, "and putting the personnel in place that it needs."

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act passed last year, but the Treasury Department has yet to draft the rules for enforcement.

Chad Hills, gambling analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said writing them up shouldn’t be too burdensome.

“We estimate that about five federal employees working on this could keep and maintain a list of Internet gambling operations,” he told Family News in Focus.

Illegal Internet gambling is a $12 billion-a-year industry, and Tom McClusky of the Family Research Council said the pressure to water down the restrictions via the Treasury Department is intense.

"The gambling forces seem to have some friends in those departments that might have been helping write some of those regulations," he said. “It’s almost setting up a fourth branch of government – a bureaucracy branch – that decides what laws they want to enforce and what laws they want to basically rewrite.”

(Paid for by Focus on the Family Action)

[TheEngineer]

I sent this to Paulson a few minutes ago, via snail mail. I'll email and snail mail Gonzales the same one:

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June 2, 2007

The Honorable Henry Paulson
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20220

Dear Secretary Paulson:

On behalf of millions of law-abiding Americans, I am writing to ask that you use care when drafting the regulations to implement the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, so as not to exceed the specific requirements of the Act, especially with regard to Internet poker.

Many Americans oppose the UIGEA in its current form. It “passed” the Senate not by a majority vote on its merits, but by being sneaked into the Safe Ports Act, where it was safe from debate and discussion. As a result, reform measures like HR 2046, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act, have already been introduced, and others are sure to follow.

However, the UIGEA is law, and your department is tasked with enforcing it as written. As such, I humbly ask that you to just that – write regulations that address the legislation as written. As you know, UIGEA does not make online gambling illegal. Rather, it provides legal mechanisms for enforcement of existing state and federal gambling laws. Well, Internet poker is not illegal under existing federal law. As for state laws, very few states have outlawed Internet poker. Conversely, the vast majority of states permit online “games of skill” (such as the money skill games on yahoo.com and other sites that are not affected by UIGEA), and I think we can agree that professional players like Doyle Brunson are certainly skilled. Given this, I believe the UIGEA regulations should exempt (or simply neglect to mention) Internet poker – if not nationwide, certainly for play in states where Internet poker is not expressly illegal. After all, should the federal government be in the business of enforcing ambiguous state laws? Should your department be drawn into litigation concerning interpretations of state laws? If states actually wished to ban Internet poker, it seems they would have done so in an unambiguous fashion … especially if they wished to have the federal government enforce it.

Thanks for your consideration.

Sincerely,

TheEngineer