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by: Gene Koprowski.
A sense of renewed possibilities is evident in the gaming industry today, as leading brands, and industry insiders, think that it is likely the incoming Obama administration will regulate, rather than outlaw, Internet gambling.


With more than a decade of hit-and-miss initiatives by individual casinos and interest groups to develop strategies to legalized Internet gambling in the U.S., the American Gaming Association is now saying that it looks like the industry legal status will be defined, positively, once and for all.

The Obama administration appears friendlier toward the prospect of legalized Internet gambling, and takes office in about seven weeks.
According to the AGA, the industry's top trade group, there are three viewpoints that are prevalent in Internet gaming circles today.

For example, many casino companies support federal regulation of Internet gambling. Others, however, want that authority to rest with the states, like the regulation of non-tribal casinos. Yet, others, fearing competition from land-based casinos with Internet outlets, oppose regulation that would open the pathway for new competitors.

The AGA's largest members, MGM Mirage, Harrah's Entertainment and International Game Technology -- which have been or are involved in Internet gambling ventures in countries where it's legal -- support total legalization of Internet gambling.
This is something of a reversal of the previous, cautious approach, which favoring a bill that would study whether to legalize Internet gambling.
As a first step, the association has formed a working team to study bills that have cropped up in the past year.
Among the favorites: Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services, has introduced a bill to regulate online gambling sites by exempting licensed operators from the federal ban and creating protections against underage gambling.


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Other bills were introduced in Congress last year and this year to "legalize online poker at the federal level," according to the AGA.
Meantime, in California, state Assemblyman Lloyd Levine introduced a bill to legalize Internet poker for California residents.
Last week, at the Global Gaming Expo, the gaming industry's biggest conference, Internet gambling experts concluded that legalizing online poker -- as either a fallback position or an ultimate goal -- would be more acceptable to politicians than legalizing all forms of Internet gambling.
That's because online sports betting appears to be off the table entirely. Old laws that prohibit phone betting, as well as a 1992 law giving Nevada a monopoly on legal sports betting, create a hurdle for sports book makers online in the U.S., experts said.

The question of whether regulatory authority should reside with states or the federal government is also up for discussion.
"Federal regulation makes sense because it would establish a level playing field for operators while allowing individual states that oppose gambling to opt out," said John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance.

A PricewaterhouseCoopers study indicates that federal regulation of Internet gambling could generate at least $9 billion in fees and taxes for the federal government over the next decade. The only problem with moving an Internet gambling bill through quickly next year could be difficulties in getting Obama's legal team in place, as his nominee for Attorney General, Eric Holder, has been dogged by concerns over his connection to controversial pardons of terrorists in the Clinton era, experts say.




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