House to Vote on Bill to Curb Online Gaming

HOUSE TO VOTE ON BILL TO CURB ONLINE GAMING
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Jim Puzzanghera]
After nearly a decade of trying, Congress appears ready to deal with Internet gambling, a phenomenon that has grown dramatically in recent years as millions of people from college students to retirees log on to play poker or wager on sporting events. The House is set to vote today on a measure -- part of the Republican leadership's election-year "values" agenda -- designed to choke off the flow of U.S. money to poker and other gambling sites, most of which are based overseas, because Internet gambling is illegal in the United States. The legislation would make it illegal for banks and credit card companies to make payments to Internet gambling sites. It also allows law enforcement officials to force Internet service providers to remove links to the websites. Many major credit card companies already refuse to process such payments. Opponents of the bill, including online gambling sites and a new group representing U.S. poker players, noted the growing popularity of Internet gambling and predicted that people would continue to sidestep laws.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-gamble11jul11,1,540699.story?coll=la-news-a_section
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