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Copyright © 2006 PC World
HEADLINE:
Poker players fight online gambling ban
Body:
WASHINGTON -- Three professional poker players raised the stakes
in a debate over Internet gambling Tuesday, calling on Congress
to reject three bills that attempt to stop U.S. residents from
playing online poker.
Poker players Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, and Greg Raymer,
joining the Poker Players Alliance at a press conference, criticized
the three bills for requiring banks to monitor their customers'
transactions in an attempt to stop them from using overseas gambling
sites. The players questioned why poker,
legal in U.S. casinos, should be illegal online.
In addition, a bill sponsored by Representative Bob Goodlatte,
a Virginia Republican, would "censor" the Internet by
allowing courts to order ISPs to shut down access to offshore
gambling sites, said Michael Bolcerek, president of the Poker
Players Alliance. Bolcerek compared Goodlatte's bill to the
Chinese government's attempts to block Internet content it doesn't
like.
"Monitoring what American citizens do in their own homes,
with their own money and in their own time just isn't the federal
government's responsibility," added Radley Balko, policy
analyst for the libertarian think tank the Cato Institute. "The
government is not our babysitter."
Raymer, who won the World Series of Poker in 2004 after qualifying
for the tournament online, said Goodlatte's bill would require
banks and ISPs to intrude on U.S. residents' privacy. "I
don't want my ISP to be monitoring where I go on the Internet,"
he said.
Proposal Defended
Goodlatte disputed that his bill would allow censorship, saying
it would simply give states more tools to enforce existing laws
against most forms of online gambling. So far, lawmakers have
had little success stopping U.S. residents from playing
poker and other games at offshore sites. Online gambling is
estimated to be a $12 billion business, about half coming from
U.S. residents.
"This is in no way censorship," Goodlatte said. "Gambling
has always been a matter that's been regulated by the states."
At a Wednesday hearing, the House of Representatives Judiciary
Committee will debate Goodlatte's Internet Gambling Prohibition
Act. An Internet gambling bill sponsored by Representative Jim
Leach, an Iowa Republican, was approved by the House Financial
Services Committee March 15. The third bill is sponsored by Senator
Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican.
The Poker Players Alliance called on Congress to legalize online
poker, saying that would allow the government to regulate and
tax the game. It criticized the bills for allowing some forms
of online gambling, such as horse racing bets and state lottery
sales, while banning games such as poker. The bills are "blatantly
hypocritical," Balko said.
But Goodlatte's bill doesn't provide any "carve outs"
for horse racing or other gambling, the lawmaker said. There's
some disagreement over existing federal laws governing horse racing
bets, but "every other form of gambling is treated the same
way" in his bill, Goodlatte said.
Poll Finds Support
The Poker Players Alliance, which represents 20,000 players, found
that 74 percent of respondents in a recent survey said they disagreed
with government efforts to prevent U.S. residents from playing
poker online. The survey polled more than 950 U.S. residents.
The three poker players, made famous by recent television coverage
of tournaments, called poker an American game that requires more
skill that most forms of gambling.
"[Poker] brings incredibly diverse groups of people together,"
said Ferguson, wearing his trademark black cowboy hat. "Once
you sit down at that table, you're all equal."
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