s that be went after the money. They effectively made it a crime for a bank to transfer money to an online gambling company. By cutting off the money, they effectively eliminate online gambling. In the ultimate bit of hypocrisy, certain tIn a rather interesting move, online gaming effectively became illegal recently do to a new piece of legislation. This move by the federal government raises a host of issues.

In what some consider a sneaky move, online gaming was effectively banned recently by a piece of law passed within another piece of law. This often happens in Congress to the frustration of many. In this case, Congress was set to pass the Safe Harbor Act, which was a piece of legislation concerning our ports from potential terrorist attacks. Online gaming, poker specifically, would seem to have little to do with terrorist and ports. Nonetheless, the “Unlawful Internet Gambling Act of 2006” was attached to it. When the Safe Harbor Bill received a favorable vote, the attached gambling act also became law. There was no separate vote.

Given the name, one would think the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act makes online gambling illegal. It does not. Instead, the powers that be went after the money. They effectively made it a crime for a bank to transfer money to an online gambling company. By cutting off the money, they effectively eliminate online gambling. In the ultimate bit of hypocrisy, certain ty

fectively banned recently by a piece of law passed within another piece of law. This often happens in Congress to the frustration of many. In this case, Congress was set to pass the Safe Harbor Act, which was a piece of legislation concerning our ports from potential terrorist attacks. Online gaming, poker specifically, would seem to have little to do with terrorist and ports. Nonetheless, the “Unlawful Internet Gambling Act of 2006” was attached to it. When the Safe Harbor Bill received a favorable vote, the attached gambling act also became law. There was no separate vote.

Given the name, one would think the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act makes online gambling illegal. It does not. Instead, the powers that be went after the money. They effectively made it a crime for a bank to transfer money to an online gambling company. By cutting off the money, they effectively eliminate online gambling. In the ultimate bit of hypocrisy, certain t

ing our ports from potential terrorist attacks. Online gaming, poker specifically, would seem to have little to do with terrorist and ports. Nonetheless, the “Unlawful Internet Gambling Act of 2006” was attached to it. When the Safe Harbor Bill received a favorable vote, the attached gambling act also became law. There was no separate vote.

Given the name, one would think the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act makes online gambling illegal. It does not. Instead, the powers that be went after the money. They effectively made it a crime for a bank to transfer money to an online gambling company. By cutting off the money, they effectively eliminate online gambling. In the ultimate bit of hypocrisy, certain t

Bill received a favorable vote, the attached gambling act also became law. There was no separate vote.

Given the name, one would think the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act makes online gambling illegal. It does not. Instead, the powers that be went after the money. They effectively made it a crime for a bank to transfer money to an online gambling company. By cutting off the money, they effectively eliminate online gambling. In the ultimate bit of hypocrisy, certain t

s that be went after the money. They effectively made it a crime for a bank to transfer money to an online gambling company. By cutting off the money, they effectively eliminate online gambling. In the ultimate bit of hypocrisy, certain types of gambling such as horse racing were exempted.

Make no mistake, the purpose of this new law is to attack the online poker industry. The industry has grown like mad. Annual revenues are believed to be in the ten to fifteen billion dollar range. At least they used to be. With the passage of the new law, the publicly traded online poker companies either closed outright or saw their stock devalued to the point where it nearly became the equivalent of toilet paper. In a flick of pen, an industry was wiped out.

Legislating morality is nothing new with government. We have laws on drinking ages, smoking ages, assault, battery and, of course, murder. There is a fine line, however, between legislating against a real threat and simply playing big brother. When it comes to online poker, there are as many people that will support its legality as there are that argue it should be illegal. Those against it, however, seem to have some expla