U.S. Government Freezes Internet Poker Payment Accounts
The U.S. Justice Department is starting to lay down the law in terms of the illegal action of online gambling. It has been recently reported that seizure warrants have now been secured and because of that the United States government has frozen online payment processor accounts.
The Poker Players Alliance (PPA), which is a leading lobbyist that makes sure that Internet poker is not a part of laws dealing with online gambling, were not pleased when they had discovered that the U.S. government had frozen the accounts. The accounts are thought to be holding an estimated $30 million in player winnings. The PPA recently sent a letter to the Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York asking for a chance to be heard in any warrant hearings in the future. You can check out the full letter at www.pokerplayersalliance.org.
The PPA is coming off a court win in the state of Minnesota where a state lawmaker withdrew their bill to halt Internet service providers from blocking gambling websites on the Net. After looking at the facts the Minnesota lawmaker changed his views and made the decision to try to push for legalizing and regulating online gambling.
U.S. Representative Barney Frank has been at the forefront of legalizing Internet gambling and his plan is for regulating online gambling, which would reap billions of dollars for the U.S. government. Two new Bills have been introduced by Frank to Congress. One of the Bills would block the rules for the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) from going into effect. The second Bill would outline who to both regulate and legalize Internet gambling in the United States.
Frank’s first Bill proposed was to halt what the government did recently in the freezing of online accounts for Internet poker players. Frank believes the UIGEA rules have to be clearly defined, which they currently are not, and looked at closely before the government starts to interfere with the online gambling industry.
The PPA recently told the Associated Press that the US Attorney for New York’s Southern District has ordered three banks to freeze accounts. Also, The AP reported that a seizure warrant was issued recently for an account at a Wells Fargo bank in San Francisco.
