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Friday 14th September 2012
In the United States, a summary of The Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker Consumer Protection and Strengthening UIGEA Act of 2012 legislation has been released outlining what future federal online gaming regulation could look like.
The brainchild of Senators Harry Reid and Jon Kyl, the measure, which must be passed by both houses of Congress before being signed into law by the President, would prohibit all forms of unlicensed gambling while creating ‘carve-outs’ for online poker and horseracing off-track betting.
If approved, the proposed legislation would establish the Office of Online Poker Oversight (OOPO) as part of the Department of Commerce in order to supervise the control of online poker while additional regulators could be appointed to help with the issuance of licenses. It would also require that states wishing to offer online poker and off-track betting opt-in via an election involving a majority vote in both local legislative chambers. Doing nothing would see a state opt-out while aboriginal groups could apply only if the state in which they operate has selected to take part.
While authorising continued online lottery ticket sales, The Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker Consumer Protection and Strengthening UIGEA Act of 2012 would prohibit states from offering games that mimic casino or slot titles and also ban online poker international player pools. It would also outlaw Internet gambling cafes and only license land-based casino operators that have met certain criteria for the purposes of offering online poker over its first two years. Additionally, some gaming machine device manufacturers would be licensed to offer online poker services.
The Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker Consumer Protection and Strengthening UIGEA Act of 2012 also includes a five-year ban provision for any entity that offered online gambling to US residents after 2006 in breach of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). Operators would face such as sanction unless a federal court was convinced that no federal or state law had been breached.
For those lucky enough to be licensed for online poker, the proposed legislation asserts that they are to be required to pay a 16 percent tax with two percent destined for the federal coffers while the remainder would go to the individual state or tribe. This duty would be exercised on ‘eligible online poker receipts’ while illegal operators would face stiffer financial penalties.
No licensee would be able to begin operations until at least 15 months after the bill was enacted to make sure of a level playing field and to prevent any one licensee from gaining a 'first mover's advantage'.
Source: OnlineCasinoNews
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