The Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board today announced that they have finished writing the rules that will allow the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act to be enacted.
But banks and financial institutions will not have to follow the UIGEA rules until sometime next year because of government protocol that allows public feedback. Starting today, the government is accepting public comment about the rules that the Treasury and the Reserve Board want to use to enforce the UIGEA. The deadline to submit is Dec. 12.
After Dec. 12, government employees will take about 180 days to read the comments. They're also supposed to revise the rules according to public sentiment. The UIGEA will go into effect after this period.
The UIGEA aims to snuff out all forms of Internet poker and gambling by making it illegal for banks to process financial transactions between Americans and offshore casinos and cardrooms. It has been nearly a year since the UIGEA was piggybacked onto a vast bill designed to strengthen the security of America's ports. These rules were originally slated to come out early this summer.
The UIGEA is facing challenges both politically and legally. Congressman Barney Frank has a bill in committee that would kill the UIGEA, and the Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA) is in the beginning stages of petitioning the courts to declare the UIGEA unconstitutional. A judge will rule on a temporary restraining order (TRO) request made by iMEGA attorneys later this month.
Click here to read about that case.
According to the government's announcement, one of the ways people can view the rules and make comments on them is through www.regulations.gov, although the docket wasn't live as of Monday afternoon. Here's how the announcement said to do this:
"Visit www.regulations.gov and select 'Department of the Treasury – All' from the drop-down menu, then click 'submit.' In the 'Docket ID' column, select 'Treas-DO-2007-0015.' It's there instructions to submit comments and a .pdf of the rules supposedly can be found."
The rules, which contains directions on other options to submit comments, can also be found at the link at the bottom of this page:www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/hp583.htm.
