Port Security Bill Passes

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Friday 13th October: President Bush today signed the terrorist-related "Safe Ports" Act, in itself of little interest here but it had a totally unrelated Act tacked on as an amendment and consequently also passed into US law. The "Unlawful Internet Gambling Act" is immediately enforceable and prevents banks and financial institutions from allowing their customers to send transactions to and from online gambling sites. This was introduced on "moral" grounds, but with a carve-out for horse-racing and State lotteries that belies the real reasons.

 

A number of Internet Casinos have subsequently stopped taking US bettors with immediate effect, with a number of others introducing restrictions on 11 US States where Internet Gambling is supposedly illegal. The oddity here being that many casinos have included New York and New Jersey on the list, areas where online gambling is not specifically legislated against. The full list of States where gambling is illegal at this time is as follows: Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Washington, Indiana, Nevada, Oregon, Louisiana and South Dakota.

 

Supposedly a good day for American Values, but clearly not for Freedom Of Choice.