Barney Frank’s Online Gambling Bill Gains Support From Two More Reps

More representatives are expressing their support for Representative Barney Frank, who suggested the implementation of a new set of laws during the previous year.

Since the beginning of 2010, a couple of new co-sponsors have joined Frank in support of a bill that will hopefully see the last of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006. Besides, the new bill will set the foundation for a regulated online gaming industry in America.

The new co-sponsors of the bill are Representatives Eliot Engel of New York and Charlie Melancon of Louisiana. Owing to these new additions, the bill now has 65 co-sponsors.

The UIGEA was first sanctioned in the year, 2006 in an effort to curb online gaming in US. However, since the US has a large and lucrative market for the internet gaming industry, which is one of the fastest growing industries of the world, many financial institutions and legislators alike believe that banks will find it increasingly impossible to deny payments from and to internet gaming sites.

In 2006, the UIGEA was implemented, but has been seen as a vague and unclear set of laws by many.

The discussion on the gaming laws in the US are expected to resume in the spring of this year. Frank hopes to push his new bill into action before June 2010; and although one cannot hope that the online gaming laws will change overnight, Representative Barney Frank believes that he will be able to delay the UIGEA long enough to enable the regulation of the Internet gaming industry in the US.