While it wasn't anywhere close to an earth-shattering week on the poker-legislation front, several small items passed across the wire this week, both in the U.S. and in other lands. After all, keeping tabs on what the lawmakers think is an important part of securing and continuing our access to the tables.
First on the list was the announcement that the American Gaming Association [AGA] had modified its original stance on Internet gaming, and is now calling for a year-long federal investigation on the matter. That the AGA, primarily a spokespiece for American casino interests, has moved its stance away from an immediate further clouds any chance of federal anti-online-gambling legislation from passing in the near future.
Not quite as nice, though also not unexpected, was the failure of a Louisiana measure designed to open up other forms of poker, such as bar gambling. This one was mired down in the normal morass of Louisiana political in-fighting, but the fact that this measure came as close as it did to passing shows that poker remains an on-the-table concern.
Then again, the U.S. isn't the only ones dealing with the thorny issues that online gaming brings. Take Italy, for instance. Italy had been among the most restrictive of European countries when it comes to gambling online. At first, they had passed draconian measures similar to the Goodlatte stuff proposed here in the States: they attempted to deny access to online gambling to Italian citizens by forcing all Italian ISPs [Internet Service Providers] to restrict access to anything identified as an online gambling site. However, Italy soon modified that to allow access to Eurobet, essentially creating a goverment monopoly over online gaming.
That didn't work out either. A few days ago a European court ruled that Astrabet, a Malta-based gaming concern, must also be granted access to the Italian market, and it's also opened up the door for all the other members of the European Commission (a legislative arm dealing with European Union matters) to determine if online sites based in their countries are also being unjustly excluded.
The intricacies of online gambling probably weren't high on the agenda when the EU was formed, at that. Nor is Italy the only EU member to run afoul of other countries' interests; Sweden also launched a state-sponsored site that has come under fire from other nations.
What can we add? Not much except... stay tuned.
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