Utah Attorney General Says It Is Time To Legalize Online Gambling

The next round of battling in Congress may have a bigger effect on the economy than any of the stimulus battles that have taken place. Millions of people in the US are gambling online and lawmakers are recognizing that regulation is needed for the online gambling industry.

Of the states that could possibly back such an idea, the last of which would be Utah in many peoples minds. In Utah, after all, they currently do not allow any form of gambling in their state. Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, however, believes the time has come for government to pay attention to the online gaming industry.

"It is going to happen anyway, let's put some regulation in place,' said Shurtleff, "Even though we outlawed it for two years now, it is still going on and it is highly unregulated, so you've got unscrupulous people rigging the system. People are getting ripped off."

Shurtleff is not alone in his opinion. Representative Barney Frank fought hard against the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, yet it was still passed back in 2006. Now he has a Bill that is awaiting a hearing in the House.

Frank has been working diligently with the Poker Players Alliance and other groups on ways that the online gambling industry can be properly regulated. How to stop money laundering and underage gambling are two of the main issues that need to be resolved in these regulations.

The other area that needs to be addressed in any potential legislation is problem gambling. Safeguards would have to be put in place to ensure that people dealing with gambling addictions had places to go to get information and help with their disease.

"The online gambling ball has begun to roll and lawmakers are starting to understand that the UIGEA is not working. It was a valiant effort to rid the US of online gambling, but it has not, and will not, go away. At least now politicians are starting to accept the idea that regulation on the industry in the next step," said observer Michael Kyputsky.

March 5, 2009
Posted By Larry Rutherford
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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