• Senate Committee Moves Kyl Bill, Minus States' Rights Provision

Yesterday the Kyl Internet gambling bill easily passed the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, but not before the committee's chairman, Rep. Richard C. Shelby, R-Ala., amended it by taking out a carve-out that would let states regulate online gambling that only takes place within their state lines. The Banking Committee spent about five minutes on the bill Thursday morning and voted 19-0 to pass it on to the full Senate. For the next five weeks Congress will be on break. S. 627, which was proposed by Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., would deter Internet gambling by preventing online gambling merchants from taking payments from Americans who want to pay with credit cards. The bill contains carve-outs for only horse and dog race betting, and both the American Gaming Association and the National Indian Gaming Association oppose it. AGA President Frank Fahrenkopf told the Las Vegas Review-Journal he believes the bill unfairly favors some gambling industries over others. He also said he thinks it would expand Internet gambling instead of doing its intended duty of contracting it. "In my view, this bill does not limit Internet gambling; it expands Internet gambling," he said. [...] US RESIDENTS / US ONLINE PLAYERS : ACT NOW FOR THE FREEDOM ! WWW.PROFREEDOM.COM | WWW.PROTECTONLINEGAMBLING.COM

> Read the full story here Source : IGamingNews.com

• IGC Comments On Senate Banking Commitee Approval of S.627

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 31, 2003 -- “The Interactive Gaming Council regrets that the U.S. Congress took another step backwards today when the Senate Banking Committee approved S.627. Our country has had one sorry experience with Prohibition, and this approach will not work any better in cyber space. “The Senate Banking Committee’s amendment to eliminate state governments’ right to regulate online gaming sets a bad precedent. State governments, which have historically licensed, regulated, and taxed the gaming industry, may eventually forfeit this right as well as vital gaming tax revenues to the Federal government. State governments and the gaming industry should be concerned about a potential for a Federal siphoning of gaming taxes that are often dedicated to important state programs that benefit senior citizens and children. “The IGC had hoped that Banking Committee members would recognize that legalization and strict regulation, rather than prohibition, is the only way to achieve important policy goals. More than ever, we believe that perceived problems associated with interactive gaming --- the potential for exacerbating the problems of compulsive gamblers, for underage betting and for money laundering --- can only be resolved through a combination of up-to-date technology, proper internal controls and stringent regulatory oversight. [...]

> Read the full story here Source : IGCouncil.org

• Warner Says Pentagon Threat-Bet Program To Be Canceled

The Pentagon on Tuesday abandoned a plan to establish a futures market that would have allowed traders to profit by correctly predicting assassinations and terrorist strikes in the Middle East Facing outraged Democratic senators, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said he learned of the program in the newspaper while heading to a Senate Foreign Relations hearing on Iraq. "I share your shock at this kind of program," he said. "We'll find out about it, but it is being terminated." Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va., said in an interview that he received assurance from the head of the Pentagon agency overseeing the program that it would "stop all engines on this matter today." Warner spoke by telephone with Tony Tether, head of the Pentagon's Defense Research Projects Agency, after consulting with Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and Appropriations Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska. The three agreed "that this should be immediately disestablished," Warner said. Warner said that DARPA "didn't think through the full ramifications of the program." The little-publicized Pentagon plan envisioned a potential futures trading market in which speculators would wager with one another on the Internet on the likelihood of various economic or political events in the Middle East, including terrorist attacks or assassinations. A Web site promoting the plan already is available and registration of traders was to begin Friday. [...]

> Read the full story here Source : SFGate.com

• Poker.com Inc. is Encouraged by Passing of the Kyl Bill S. 627

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 31, 2003--Poker.com Inc. (OTCBB:PKER - News) announces it may be positively impacted by legislation banning the use of credit cards, wire transfers and other banking instruments to fund internet gambling activities by American citizens which was unanimously passed today by the U.S. Senate Banking Committee without debate and will be reported to the full Senate at a later date. The passing of the legislation is of significance to Poker.com Inc. through the potential impact on the operations of the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, Skill Poker.com Inc. Skill Poker.com Inc. is the development and operating division of Poker.com Inc. focusing on the completion and marketing of a patent pending technology known as Skill Poker. The Skill Poker system at www.skillpoker.com will enable the playing of poker games online without contravening legislation such as and similar to the Kyl Bill, S. 627, introduced by Senator Jon Kyl, R-Arizona. [...]

> Read the full story here Source : Yahoo.com

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