The Leach Bill (H.R. 4411) – The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2005

The Goodlatte Bill (H.R. 4777) – To Amend the Wire Act To Expand and Modernize the Prohibition Against Interstate Gambling

Leach Bill (H.R. 4411) – The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2005

This bill is designed to prevent the use of payment instruments (credit cards, fund transfers, etc.) for certain forms of online gambling that are defined as “unlawful Internet gambling.”  The bill requires financial institutions to identify and block payments related to so-called unlawful Internet gambling transactions.  If there is a violation, the government may file a lawsuit (known as an injunction) to prevent or restrain the violation.  The bill provides a special exemption for three types of Internet gambling:  (1) horse racing under the Interstate Horseracing Act (IHA), so OTBs and account wagering systems can remain in business, (2) Indian gambling that takes place on a reservation or between two reservations; and (3) Internet gambling that occurs solely within a state’s own borders, referred to as Intra-state gambling.

While the bill purports to be a piece of anti-gambling legislation, it actually endorses and sanctions three types of online gambling: (1) wagering on horse races via Internet, telephone or television, (2) online and remote gambling on Indian reservations and (3) online and other remote gambling taking place within a state, such as the online sports betting and wireless casino gambling permitted in Nevada.   The bill creates a special favored status for these forms of domestic online and remote gambling, and serves to block any other forms of remote gambling.

Bill Text:  See the Text of H.R. 4411

Goodlatte Bill (H.R. 4777) – To Amend the Wire Act To Expand and Modernize the Prohibition Against Interstate Gambling

This bill amends the Wire Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1084 by:

1. Expanding the Wire Act to apply to all games of chance, such as poker, blackjack, backgammon, bingo and any other casino game, as well to cover lotteries.   This is a “legislative reversal” of existing court rulings that the Wire Act only applies solely to sports gambling, and does not cover any other forms of gambling.   As currently written, the Wire Act cannot be used against online lottery, poker or blackjack sites.

2. Expanding the jurisdictional application of the Wire Act to cover any situation where a bet is placed or received from (1) anywhere in the United States or a territory of the United States, (2) from the maritime jurisdiction of the United States, or (3) to or from any place outside the jurisdiction of any nation (i.e., the high seas, Antarctica, or outer space).

3. Raising the penalty for violations of the Wire Act from two years, to five years.

4. Expanding the scope of criminal conduct under the Act to include any business that uses electronic payment systems of any type (credit cards, wires, checks) in furtherance of a bet made illegal under the new Wire Act.

While claiming to be an anti-gambling bill, it is actually a pro-gambling bill for favored types of domestic online and remote gambling.  The bill provides special exemptions for five forms of United States based online and remote gambling.  First, the bill clarifies that online and other forms of remote gambling on horseracing is legal under the Interstate Horseracing Act (IHA).  Second, the bill provides an exemption for online and other remote gambling on an Indian reservation, or between Indian reservations.   Third, the bills allows states to legalize and regulate online and other forms of remote gambling taking place within a state, such as the online sports betting and wireless casino gambling permitted in Nevada.  Fourth, the bills exempts “fantasy sports” leagues and gambling amongst friends related to such leagues.  Fifth, the bill exempts the types of games offered by sponsors where entry into the games is free to the customers and the only prize is to participate in a contest by the sponsor.

Bill Text:  See the Text of H.R. 4777

Goodlatte’s Press Release on H.R. 4777

E-Mail Your Congressman or Senator in Opposition to These Bills

E-mail your Congressman   http://www.house.gov/writerep/

E-mail your Senator  http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Sample Letter:

Dear [REPRESENTATIVE OR SENATOR’S NAME]

I am a resident of your district and am strongly opposed to the two bills pending in Congress that attempt to criminalize and restrict Internet betting.   These two bills are the Leach Bill (H.R. 4411) and the Goodlatte Bill (H.R. 4477).

First, I believe in a person's individual freedom and am against unwarranted governmental interference in a citizen's personal life.   The government has better things to do than attempt to control whether I can place a bet on the Internet, especially when the government sanctions many other forms of gambling.   Second, neither of these bills makes any sense.   There is no effective way for the government to prohibit online betting due to our national desire to gamble and the way business works on the Internet.   Americans will always love placing a small bet on a sports contest or playing a bit of cards for entertainment.  The online gambling companies will always be able to change the nature of their business one step ahead of law enforcement efforts to stop them.    It would be a tremendous waste of government resources to try to prohibit online gambling, just like it was impossible to prohibit alcohol during the Prohibition era.

I urge you to vote against the Leach and Goodlate bills.  At some point, we need to stop trying to solve every problem by building a bigger and less efficient government.   In the place of these two ill-conceived bills, I ask you to support the concept of studying or regulating online gambling in way that makes sense, as proposed in the past by Rep. John Conyers.