December 3,2006
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The End of Online Credit Card Gambling?
Caving to pressure from law enforcement, the U.S. House of representatives voted 317 – 93 in July to pass a bill prohibiting use of credit cards in placing online bets. The bill as written provides exceptions for horse racing and state-run lotteries. Detractors of the bill argue that policing the Internet is nearly impossible, and, since it doesn't cover all types of gambling unilaterally, is unfair. The bill would not allow electronic transfers or credit cards to be used to pay wagers online, and would allow law enforcement to selectively block access to gambling websites.
Of course, both horse racing sites and state lotteries heartily approve their respective exceptions to the ban – horse racing aficionados because they stand to gain traffic from diverted gambling, and state lotteries, because they depend on revenue to boost tax gain.