WASHINGTON — Legislation to ban credit card use and fund transfers for Internet gambling will finally become law.
The House approved language added to the conference report for the SAFE Port Act (H.R. 4954) similar to the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act (H.R. 4411). The port bill passed the House 409-2, the final step before the president's signature.
"This year Americans are projected to send more than $6 billion to unregulated, offshore online casinos, half the $12 billion that will be bet worldwide on the Internet. FBI and Justice Department experts have warned that Internet gambling sites are vulnerable to be used for money laundering, drug trafficking and even terrorist financing," former House Banking Committee Chairman Jim Leach (R-Iowa), who sponsored the bill, said.
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The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act would:
o Preserve the right of states to regulate gambling that occurs solely within state borders;
o Cut off the flow of money to Internet gambling Web sites by regulating payment systems;
o Authorize state and federal law enforcement to seek injunctions against persons who facilitate illegal Internet gambling; and
o Advance international cooperation in law enforcement efforts against illegal gambling and related money laundering.
The Act does not change the law: "nothing that is illegal will be made legal, and nothing that is legal will be made illegal," according to the Financial Services Committee. "It provides law enforcement and private parties, such as credit card companies, with new enforcement tools that will prohibit illegal Internet gambling transactions even when the websites are operated offshore."
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