Throughout the mark up hearing, Barney Frank stressed that additional revenue generation was only an incidental benefit. He said that he had pioneered this bill because Americans had the right to freedom. The Government should not infringe on this right unless it causes harm to others. Several amendments to the bill as originally drafted were made. Sports betting was removed from the purview of the bill. So were tribal casinos and state lotteries. Restrictions were imposed on advertisements from online casino operators, with a view to protect problem gamblers.

The regulation of online gambling as set out in the HR 2267 includes the following activities. The regulatory authority will issue licenses after a process of vetting them and will also maintain a blacklist of illegal operators. The bill ensures use of technology to prevent minors from signing up at online casinos. The online casino operators will set limits on deposits and losses from its members in order to prevent compulsive gambling. Fraud prevention, prevention of money laundering and tax avoidance will be other areas that the regulatory authority will be involved in.

The report states that by the end of 2010 the global online casino market will be worth $4.7 billion. This will increase to $5.8 billion by the end of 2012 and to $7.1 billion by the end of 2014. The worth has been measured in terms of gross gaming yield. These projections show a 79% increase from 2009. The Global Business of Online Casinos has also tried to explain the reasons for this growth. The start up cost for an online casino is about $1.5 million whereas it is about $300 million for a land based casino. Also online casinos need few employees to keep the casino running as against hundreds of employees required in land based casinos. Hence, according to the report large non-gambling brands with online presence are likely to enter online gambling in a big way. An example given is that of media owners.

Other factors that favor the growth of online casinos are the growth in Internet and mobile connectivity in the developing areas of the world, the word of mouth advocacy through social networking sites and the innovations in technology. The report also adds that though the growth will be based on the novelty that the industry is able to provide on a continuous basis, the familiar games like online roulette are here to stay.

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Ed Williams, member of the Board of Directors of the Credit Union National Association, represented the financial services sector that manages the financial life lines for online gambling. He described the challenges faced by financial services companies in complying with burdensome UIGEA rules. These rules put the onus on financial companies for preventing unlawful Internet gambling transactions. Williams testified that H.R. 2267 would promote “…regulatory simplicity while assisting financial institutions compliance with UIGEA.”

Annie Duke is one of the most respected poker professionals in the country. Though she spoke for the online poker players she voiced the views of all online players including online casino players. She said that American poker players would prefer to play on sites licensed in the United States rather than at offshore sites. She was sure the regulation proposed in the HR 2267 would provide even greater consumer protection. At the same time regulation and taxation of online gambling would provide much needed revenue.

Today there are many Congressmen who have not yet taken a stand on the legalization and regulation of online gambling in America. Michael Waxman, spokesperson for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative, addressed them by saying. “Lawmakers who have not yet taken a position on this issue should realize that their constituents are likely among the millions of Americans who wager online despite attempts to prohibit the activity. Members would best serve their constituents by accurately representing their interests and supporting Chairman Frank’s bill.”

Though no official announcement was made it is expected that a vote on this bill in the House Committee would be held early in August 2010.

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The hearing will be a half day affair and will begin after lunch. The House Committee has not released a witness list so the exact agenda is unknown. However, it has been made clear that there will be no vote at the end of the hearing. The unofficial news is that another hearing for the bill will be scheduled in August and the mark up will take place at that hearing. The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives in May 2009 and had its first hearing in December 2009. The slow progress of the bill has been attributed to the more important financial matters before the House Financial Services Committee.

The online gambling community is frustrated by the slow progress of the bill. iMEGA Chairman, Joe Brennan Junior, has given voice to this frustration. He said in response to the announcement of the hearing, “Hearings are nice; they keep the ball in the air. What’s needed are votes: committee votes, floor votes. The i-gaming lobby has been working too hard for too long. It deserves more than a hearing.”

The problem with the proposed law is that it is not conducive to European online gaming operators applying for Polish licenses and this would defeat the EC objective of having a common playing field in online gambling across Europe. The online gaming operators would be required to form a joint stock company in Poland and would have to maintain their servers in Poland. The financial transactions would have to be carried out through Polish banks. The financial guarantees and license fees for online operators have been fixed at higher levels than compared to land based operators. There are some unreasonable advertising restrictions as well.

Many of these requirements have been imposed with a stated view to prevent fraud and protect the online casino player. However, the online gambling operators are geared to meet the objectives of fraud prevention and customer protection without being located in Poland, because their licensing authority also mandates that the same precautions be taken. Therefore the Polish law would result in duplication of resources and this would add to the cost making the operations uneconomical.

Poland has up to wait up to mid August. Thereafter they can implement the law as proposed but would risk legal action from the EC. Or they can make the changes suggested and resubmit the draft law for approval.

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