Dear ________________,
I'm sure you are aware that Congressman Bob Goodlatte has introduced a bill (HR 4777) that is intended to make online gambling illegal. I am not trying to argue the merits of gambling, that is hardly the point. To have legal gambling in a desert town (Vegas) on the one hand, and yet have a bill that purports to fight a moral fight on the other hand is both ambiguous and frightening to me.
Does Congressman Goodlatte have other measures to impose on my free choice in the future. I like the fact that it's my right to say yes or no to playing at an online casino or to enter an online poker tournament. I just love the freedom I have because my constitution guarantees it. And now, Congressman Goodlatte would see that freedom taken away.
However, Congressman Goodlatte and Congressman Boucher both made some strong statements about this industry. Far be it from me to support an industry that supposedly acts as a front for crime, money laundering, terrorism funding, and child gambling. Broad sweeping statements were made to the effect that HR 4777 would protect and save the good American public from this scourge.
I don't however always take someone's word for something when they do not refer to specifics. I am writing to you because I too have information at my disposal. I too have a right to an opinion and, shockingly, I think I have formed an opinion based on far more facts than Congressman Goodlatte has at his fingertips.
The online gambling industry in fact has the following measures in place:
- Transactions at online casinos are not cash funded, they are bank funded. This means of course that large suspicious transactions are viewed by bank officials who are trained and authorized to act in accordance with the strict expectations carried by the Patriot Act. This is not true of the land based casinos, race tracks and so forth where transactions are cash based
- The strict procedures in place to set up an account at an online casino play a definitive role in making it very difficult for minors to gamble online
- The casinos themselves have tried to impose forms of self regulation with authoritative type bodies verifying their payout rates, and setting standards of excellence that they are expected to keep
- The software suppliers have taken a lot of responsibility on their shoulders and, for example, written coded filters that examine online behavior and will alert casino staff about abnormal conduct. This would cover conduct such as addicted gamblers play as well as play by minors (in the unlikely event that they even open an account)
- Support staff at online casinos do receive training about handling circumstances as set out above
- The casinos themselves are willingly making statements to the effect that they do have procedures in place as described above and they also declare, with conviction, that they are not fronts for crime, money laundering, or terrorism
- The casinos themselves cannot licence their casinos in the United States. They have therefore licensed them where such licensing is available. Congressman Goodlatte consistently refers to them as illegal casinos but, are they really illegal?
In truth, I find the supporting arguments for this bill to be fraught with generalizations that are unproven and unfounded. Again though, it is not merely about the moral right or wrong of gambling, it is about my right to choose whether to gamble online or not.
Here is some interesting reading:
http://www.thiswebsite.com/
Wall Street Journal Poll and Commentary
I read that the online gambling industry is worth $12 billion per annum. I would truly want to know why, when the industry is regulating itself and asking for legality and regulation by the United States, nobody has seen fit to introduce a bill to regulate the industry and enjoy the tax benefits from it. Regulation will give the government access to the information to ensure everyone's safety, to enjoy the taxable income from it, and most of all, they will ensure that I do not have a freedom removed that I currently value and enjoy.
My final question is why other countries have decided that the industry is can be regulated. Our biggest allie in the war against terrorism is the United Kingdom. Do you want to know where they stand on this issue? Read here
Truly, you are my representative and my voice. I implore you to see the injustice that will be done if this bill is approved and promulgated into law.
Regards
<Your name>
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