All this one is wishful thinking on D'Amato's part.
Quote:
Legal U.S. Online Poker In 18 Months?
PPA chairman optimistic about legalisation
Speaking at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas today (Thursday) former Senator Alfonse
D'Amato, chairman of the Poker Players' Alliance pressure group, said he expects the
legalisation of online poker in the United States within 18 months.
Other panelists in today's State of the Industry: Internet Gambling at the Crossroads
keynote session at G2E said pending sanctions by the World Trade Organisation due to
current U.S. policy on Internet gambling could be the major driver for legalisation.
This is because non-gaming corporations likely to be affected by the sanctions could put
pressure on Congress to make a change in its current anti-online gambling approach.
The panelists in the State of the Industry session included D'Amato; J. Terrence Lanni,
chairman and CEO of MGM MIRAGE; Gary Loveman, chairman, CEO and president of Harrah's
Entertainment, Inc.; and Andre Wilsenach, CEO of the Alderney Gambling Control
Commission.
The panelists agreed that online poker would likely be legalised before other online
casino-style games.
There was consensus among the panelists that it is possible to successfully regulate
Internet gambling to prevent underage gambling and ensure player protection, but these
types of protections don't currently exist across the board. With the U.S. ban on
Internet gambling financial transactions keeping well-known, reputable companies out of
the marketplace, the panelists expressed concern about player protection in an
environment dominated by unregulated or poorly regulated sites.
"I am afraid the U.S. customer today is very exposed - there's no player protection,"
Andre Wilsenach said.
In fact, Wilsenach highlighted a distinct difference in the mindset of U.S. regulators
and U.K. regulators when it comes to regulating Internet gambling. In the United States,
he said, the concern is how an Internet gambling site will exclude players, but in the
United Kingdom and other jurisdictions, the concern is how each site will handle player
protection.
To provide an example of how an Internet gambling site can be responsibly run, Terry
Lanni described MGM MIRAGE's experience some years ago with running a site on the Isle
of Man that did not accept wagers from the United States. According to Lanni, the
technology put in place for the site allowed the company to ascertain where a player
lived, verify the player's age and also provide a problem gambling component.
While the technology was viable, competing with unregulated companies that did not put
the same stringent screening processes in place made the project economically
unfeasible, Lanni said. He emphasised, however, that the company now has experience with
the technology required to keep underage gamblers from playing and is ready to "unpack"
it once online gambling is legalised and regulated in the United States.
Lanni underlined the value of having established, trusted brands in the marketplace,
saying that the major brands give people the comfort they want and the assurance that
customers will receive their winnings. He cited a survey showing that around 70 percent
of online gamblers aren't confident in the integrity of the online sites they frequent
as evidence of the importance of having well-known brands in the mix.
According to Gary Loveman, Harrah's already is exploring the possibility of expanding
its World Series of Poker brand by creating Internet gambling sites in countries where
it is legal to do so. Both Lanni and Loveman emphasized that they have no desire to
explore jurisdictions where the laws may be unclear - any work they do in the Internet
gambling sector will only be done in places where the activity is clearly permissible by
law.
When asked whether Internet gambling should be regulated at the state or federal level
if legalised, Lanni and Loveman both supported state-level regulation. Lanni explained
that the states currently are responsible for gaming regulation, and they do it very
effectively. He pointed out that the federal entities that would be charged with
regulating Internet gambling under legislation currently being considered in Congress
aren't able to fulfill all of their current duties, and that adding this responsibility
to their other burdens makes no sense.
In a question-and-answer session with attendees, the panelists were asked about the
issues posed by gambling and gambling-like activities in online social applications such
as Second Life. Loveman pointed out that several online applications provide users the
opportunity to win a virtual asset of some kind and then turn around and sell it for
real money on online auction sites. He explained that these types of transactions that
commercialise intangible objects and a variety of other legal online financial
transactions start to resemble online gambling in a way that makes the current ban on
online gambling appear hypocritical.
G2E is a major trade event for the international gaming entertainment community,
attended by more than 28 000 industry professionals from around the world. It is
organised by the American Gaming Association (AGA) and Reed Exhibitions.
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Legal U.S. Online Poker In 18 Months?
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