IMEGA Vs UIGEA in July
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) is under attack from all sides, Barney Frank will introduce a legislation this month which can overturn the UIGEA, the European Committee wants the World Trade Organisation to act against Americas monopoly on online gambling. To add to this list is the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) court case against the UIGEA starting July 6th.
Originally, the court case of iMEGA against the anti online casino and gambling law UIGEA was planned for April, but was postponed while the Court of Appeals sent iMEGA’s proposal to its Merit Panel for a decision, to add the record with new evidence about the blocking of state lottery payments. IMEGA was awarded the right to go against the UIGEA last March by Judge Mary Cooper. IMEGA asked the Department of Justice to consider to allow new evidence that the UIGEA goes against the laws of legal online gambling, the Department of Justice was against the addition of this evidence saying it was not put before to the district court and that the objection against the law was not an ‘exceptional one’.
After the implementation of the UIGEA, credit card companies in states such as North Dakota and New Hampshire, have classified online transactions for state lotteries, as illegal online gambling transactions. The UIGEA exempts state lotteries clearly from new regulations, but credit card companies are ‘over-blocking’ instead of taking the risk not to comply with the new laws. The iMEGA believes that goes against everything the constitution stands for, and it should be repealed. The anti online gambling law known as UIGEA is on the verge of being repealed, there is so much resistance, that it is only a matter of time and your favourite land casino will be online.