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Final UIGEA Rules Still Unclear About Online Poker
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November 16 - US banks and other financial institutions were handed new rules this week by the US Treasury, which will in effect dictate how they should implement the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).
However, despite the over 100 pages of rules, it is still blatantly unclear about what constitutes online gambling, and it is left largely up to the banks to determine this fact. Despite various requests, banks were not provided with a comprehensive list of businesses that partake in what is considered "illegal online gambling", thus making it practically impossible to implement the law properly.
In response to these requests, the Treasury said: "The Act does not spell out which activities are legal and which are illegal, but rather relies on the underlying substantive Federal and State laws."
When all of the above is taken into account, one begins to wonder where online poker fits into these implementation rules. After all, interest groups have been pushing unrelentingly for online poker to be declared a game of skill, which would remove it from the laws governing the UIGEA.
The new rules commented on 'skill versus unskilled games' as follows: "The Agencies believe that questions regarding what constitutes unlawful internet gambling should be resolved pursuant to the applicable Federal and State gambling laws. While there may be some games or contests conducted over the internet that are not 'games subject to chance', and thus not subject to the Act and the final rule, the Agencies believe that such issues are more appropriately resolved pursuant to the various underlying gambling laws than a single regulatory definition."
Banks and financial institutions have one year from the final implementation to comply with the new rules.
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