UIGEA and RAWA news and analysis

In September 2006, the United States House of Representatives and Senate passed legislation that would make it illegal for financial institutions to conduct monetary transactions with online gambling sites. This legislation, termed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), was "tacked on" in the final hours (shortly before adjourning for the midterm elections) as an amendment to the unrelated and virtually unstoppable SAFE Port Act, which was intended to improve the security of American ports. The Act was signed into law by then U.S. President Bush on October 13, 2006. The specific UIGEA part of the Act can be read here.

Several large online gambling operators including 888.com, Party Gaming and Bwin immediately stopped accepting bets from U.S. customers, and saw their stock prices tumble accordingly. However, many other operators have continued to accept customers from the United States despite the legal uncertainty this law has created.

Curiously, no part of the UIGEA defines what exactly "unlawful Internet gambling" is and no part of the Act prohibits anyone from gambling online. A couple of years of hindsight has revealed the effects of this legislation to be:

  • A minor inconvenience for U.S. players who would like to play poker or casino games online;
  • A flourishing industry of smaller, less visible, and largely unregulated operators happy to accept customers from the USA;
  • Most of the largest, most professional, and well regulated operators unwilling or unable to accept U.S. customers;
  • Billions of potential tax revenue lost by State and Federal U.S. governments.

Below you can find an archive of all UIGEA related news articles we have posted to the site.

Antigua's legal advisor interviewed about WTO dispute

The respected online gambling information portal MajorWager published a must-read interview with Antigua's legal adviser this week, updating and covering the many interesting aspects of the Antigua vs. the United States disputes in the halls of the World Trade Organisation.

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New Hampshire state lottery loses millions due to UIGEA

The controversial regulations supporting the U.S. Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, rammed through in the dying days of the Bush administration and only recently effective, are already causing waves where they were not intended, it appears.

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Obama's choice for Attorney General opposed to online gambling

A New York Times report on confirmation hearings for a member of the new US presidential team foreshadows continued Department of Justice hassles for online gambling in the United States.

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iMEGA challenge to UIGEA laws now set for April

The Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA) has announced that its legal team has been asked by the US 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals to provide notice of their availability in April 2009 for oral arguments in their challenge to a Federal law targeting the Internet gambling industry.

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Massive support for Presidential poker suggestion

A website set up by incoming US President Barack Obama's team to garner suggestions from US voters on priority items that deserve presidential attention has proved to be a useful vehicle for promoting legalised poker in the United States, reports CardPlayer magazine this week.

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US "midnight rule" act reintroduced by Democrats

The "midnight rule" political tactic, in which the last-minute legislative push-throughs of outgoing US administrations can be reversed by successors, became familiar to online gamblers last year when the Bush Administration rammed through the flawed and controversial regulations supporting the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

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AGA still divided over online gambling in the USA

The spirits of supporters of legalised and regulated online gambling in the United States were lifted at G2E last year when the chief of the American Gaming Association, Frank Fahrenkopf, revealed that his members - all high powered American land gambling companies - would be discussing the issue in detail at a December board meeting. Unfortunately, it appears that there has been little change in attitudes, and that some members are still opposed to online gambling.

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Dikshit plea creates rift with other Party Gaming founders

The $300 million settlement and Wire Act guilty plea by Party Gaming co-founder Anurag Dikshit earlier this (December) month was discussed in an interesting article in the The Times over the holiday weekend, which suggested that his unilateral and independent move to clean the slate with the US Department of Justice may not have gone down well with his fellow founders.

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Utah pushes resolution defending States' rights on gambling

Concerned about possible federal deals on Internet gambling in World Trade Organisation negotiations, state legislators in Utah are pushing a resolution that urges Congress to ensure that states' rights to make their own gambling laws are respected, and that means that online gambling will definitely be a non-starter in the state, reports the Salt Lake City Tribune.

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Dikshit plea highlights unfair US law arguments

This week's $300 million settlement and Wire Act guilty plea by the co-founder of Party Gaming, Anurag Dikshit, has resulted in a blizzard of high-visibility coverage for the industry in the world's mainstream media, and much of it has been positive - highlighting the confusing and often discriminatory nature of US laws on Internet gambling and its application by the Department of Justice.

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