The ban is not on Internet anything, the ban is one that forbids US banks from doing gambling transactions with online gambling sites. This means all gambling sites including those that offer poker. Banks can no longer do customer transactions with online sports books, online casinos and online anything else that accepts bets, with a few exceptions that are outlined in the bill.
The bill does not specifically say anything about online poker, as read online poker rooms are not directly breaking any law specifically by still offering US players real money play, and most players may not be breaking any law. (As an aside, There are states that it seems have laws on the book making gambling online an offense.)
This makes it confusing why sites like Party Poker and others are closing out US players, and other sites say hell no were not shuting it down. My specualtion is that all the publicly traded sites got the same opinion from thier lawyers, shut it down or you will be in violation of your stock charter by allowing US players, since the fact that the US government considers Online Gaming an Illegal activity is now perfectly clear. IE they cant break the law whereever they do business, and they would be considered doing business in the US if they accept wagers from US citizens when they are sitting in the US. They would not be violating the US law per se, since they are not subject to US law, they would be violating something on the books in thier own country that says something to the effect that a public company cannot participate in illegal activities. The people who are staying are privately owned, and seem to not to have such a legal concern, they do not have stock holders, they are not subject to terms of a public charter, and they are not an American bank.
You may have been aware that banks in the US for the most part have shutdown transactions to online gambling establishments. This has been a fact for many years. Which gives me pause, why would they make a law giving the government enforcement powers to shut down gambling transactions by US banks when US banks shut down such transactions long ago? It is really a good question, think about it a little bit.
Have you pondered for a moment?
When a law is made, any law, in the language of the law is what exactly the law applies to, how this application of law is decided, and what the punishment is. Starting at punishment, it is some kind of large fine and up to 5 years in prison. No one is ever going to go to prison, becasue it is a banking law, and none of us work in banks and banks already do not do online gaming transactions for the most part. It really seems there is no reason for this law and that the law is as silly as saying commiting suicide is against the law but attempting suicide is not.
The real nuts and bolts of this law is in what it applies to and how that application is decided. You should note, no one is going to have the FBI at thier door saying you are under arrest, no one is ever going before a judge for being in violation of this law. How this law is enforced is in the language of the law that says that the Attorney General will say what an illegal gambling transaction is. It is obvious that an illegal gaming transaction is one that would go from USbank to Party Poker or any other gambling site. It is not obvious that a transaction from USbank, to Neteller is a gaming transaction. Most of the money going from USbank, to Neteller, is not a gaming transaction. However, read the law, if the AG of the united states says, hey Neteller does transactions with online gaming, therefore USbank, and other banks under our jurisdiction cannot do transactions with neteller, then neteller has a choice to make, give up the US market for everything, or give up all online gaming transactions. The US government now has the power under this law to shut down the money supply, one hole at a time, until it is totally sealed. They have the power to say that a transaction is a gaming transaction even if it is an indirect transaction. In essence what the government has given itself is a very powerful way to lock anyone out of the US market if they or associates they do transactions with, or associates of thier associates do tansaction with online gaming. It simply does not matter if the transaction goes through bank a in the US, bank B in England, Bank C in timbuktu, or any combination of banking services, if there is a path to an online casino the AG under the law has the right to say to the US bank of origin you cannot originate the transaction and all banks would now be in violation if they specifically do banking of any kind with bank A, or Bank b or someother bank in some other country. The law does have some softer language, terms like reasonable effrorts, that may translate into loopholes. I doubt that the loopholes will provide anyone a way to fund thier accounts for long, the loopholes will likely only serve as way to keep a banker out of jail for violating the law when it was not yet clear that they violated the law. In other words, the AG can say hey doing transactions with this company is against the law, and the banks can then stop and not be subject to punishment for transactions done before clearfication from the AG. (this language kind of shelters the ambigous nature of the law from being tested in court)
The law gives the AG a pretty bullet proff way to shut down the money supply from the USA. In the future you are going to see exactly what I described playing out if the AG decides to aggresively shut down the money supply. I wish them luck, if online gambling was legal, I would offer about tewnty too one against the law surviving the legal. and diplomatic barrage that is going to come from the international communnity alone. The odds for the law staying on the books get even longer when you factor in the domestic lawsuits that will be soon to come from special interests and and perhaps banks.
I guess I should address the topic of this thread, Poker is only a game of skill if you are skillful at it, otherwise it is gambling. I hope that cleared things up.
[quote="Wilburn"]
[quote="Somebody"]
I doubt that. Playing a tournament is just as much gambling as playing a cash game.
Well friend I am not agreeing with your point, First of all poker is a game where you need strategy, concentration, and proper dedication, just like other mind game like chess. So if the chess is legal it should be. The next important thing the US government is not against gambling,
they are putting ban only on online poker because US government is not earning any tax from it. This is the only reason why they are putting ban on maximum online businesses. Simply the US government want to rule over the INTERNET & I think they are the biggest
A good post is a supple and yielding thing. It is meant to be argued with and challenged. It is a battle ground for ideas and should show some evidence of a fight or at least some preliminary skirmishes. It is good for igniting minds. It is not the be-all and end-all of a balanced and productive life, but it can touch off needed thoughts and actions.