FairPlayUSA – the US Online Gaming Association?
A coalition funded by major US casino operators which are to lobby for legal and regulated Internet poker have announced some very big names joining the Board.
Former FBI Director Louis Freeh has joined former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge on the board of FairPlayUSA, an effort launched this summer with startup funding from Caesars Entertainment Inc. and MGM Resorts International to build support for legalized online poker.
Mr Louis Freeh
The former federal law enforcers said current law on Internet gaming has been ineffective, that legalization combined with federal regulation of online poker would protect consumers while better allowing authorities to police sites that sponsor the games.
Mr Tom Ridge
“The fact is there are millions and millions of people playing the game today,” Mr. Ridge said at a media event in the U.S. Capitol. “Congress in 2006 decided to prohibit all Internet gambling. Was it well-intentioned? Yes. Has it been effective? … The answer is unequivocally no.
“Prohibition hasn’t worked, criminalization doesn’t make a lot of sense,” added the former Pennsylvania governor. “The alternative is to encourage Congress, with the right input from the law enforcement community, consumer protection advocates, child safety advocates, professional players, to develop a regulatory scheme to enable law enforcement to oversee lawful Internet poker.”
FairplayUSA & other interested bodies believe that a tax gained from online poker alone could generate revenues for the state in the range of $3 billion per year.
Officials with FairPlayUSA advocate a federal law to define Internet gambling and provide umbrella protections they say will not be possible if states were “allowed” to enact individual poker laws.
It is clear that by these two big appointments the lobbying group is not just looking at legalising online poker, but also positioning itself to become the recognised iGambling Association of the future for the US.
