A Prospect for Academic Study on Online Casino Gambling

24 Jun 2007

In growing efforts to overthrow the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, the bill that latterly cast a ban over online casino gambling in America, Nevada representative Shelley Berkley has put an interesting proposal. Berkley would like the National Academy of Sciences to carry an independent study of online gambling. Following the one-year study, new legislation could be debated in light of clear academic-level results, and not as a part of a political struggle that reflects only the self interests of the parties.

Berkley –amongst many others- believes that there is no clear information about the casino industry in America and, consequently, legislating without sufficient data is wrong. With politicians promoting their agenda's by using their actions against the casino gambling industry as an example of their conservative standards, there is no way to treat the matter professionally. Just a few weeks ago, Congressman Barney Frank addressed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and proposed a more moderate approach.

His proposal includes a regulation scheme and a taxing program that shows that there are many factors that were not taking into consideration back in October 2006, when the anti online casino act was accepted. Now, that the World Trade Organization is also pressuring the United States to change its stand over online gambling, it is hoped that the new proposals will become a reality. It will take some time before the American market opens to the casino industry once again, but the silence surrounding the issue is slowly disappearing.

Related Headlines: