UIGEA Guidelines Criticised by PPA Awc

UIGEA Guidelines Criticised by PPA Awc

Thursday, 4 October 2007

The Chairman of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), former Senator Alfonse ‘Al’ D’Amato, has responded to the Government’s proposed guidelines for the implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) by comparing the United Stat

The Chairman of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), former Senator Alfonse ‘Al’ D’Amato, has responded to the Government’s proposed guidelines for the implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) by comparing the United States to Iran.
'Poker players, the American banking community and anyone who values Internet and personal freedoms should be troubled by this intrusive rule,” said D’Amato.
'Deputizing private US financial institutions to determine what are lawful and unlawful transactions will lead to the monitoring and blocking of the personal and lawful financial transactions of many of their customers who wish to play games of skill, like poker on the Internet.'
The PPA is a non-profit organization set up to help protect and fight for the rights of poker players in the United States with part of its mission being to protect the right of poker players to play online.
D'Amato was also quoted as saying that the policy seems more like the actions of Iran than America and that the PPA was hopeful that common sense would prevail before the rules are finalised.
'Congress should act immediately to pass legislation, which will effectively regulate Internet poker and provide the proper safeguards to prevent minors from participating in Internet gaming, preserve States' rights and ensure privacy and security of online transactions,” said D’Amato.
UIGEA was passed last year and is designed to ban financial transactions between banks and online gambling companies. D’Amato is concerned that the released guidelines could see certain restricted transactions exempt from regulation if the Government determines that ‘it is not reasonably practical to identify and block or otherwise prevent or prohibit the acceptance of such transactions’.



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