Lisa Carter

Hey, I’m Lisa. I’m an art director living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I am a fan of photography, entrepreneurship, and cycling. I’m also interested in writing and programming. You can read my blog with a click on the button above.

There was immediate response from the Poker Players Alliance and former Senator Alfonse D'Amato who compared the United States to Iran.
Poker players, the American banking community, and anyone who values Internet and personal freedoms should be troubled by this intrusive rule. Deputizing private U.S. financial institutions to determine what are lawful and unlawful transactions will lead to the monitoring and blocking of the personal and lawful financial transactions of many of their customers who wish to play games of skill, like poker on the Internet."

D'Amato was also quoted saying the policy seems more like the actions of Iran than America, and the PPA is hopeful that common sense will prevail before the rules are finalized. "Congress should act immediately to pass legislation which will effectively regulate Internet poker and provide the proper safeguards to prevent minors from participating in Internet gaming, preserve states' rights and ensure privacy and security of online transactions. One online website CardPlayer.com summarized it in a very easy to read format. One section caught the eye of many in the online gambling industry where it discusses exemptions.

"The UIGEA directs the Agencies to exempt certain payment systems from any requirements if their participation is not reasonably practical. The proposed regulations exempt certain participants in ACH systems, check-collection systems, and wire-transfer systems. The proposed regulations are structured so that there is an obligation on some of those segments of transactions that the participants actually handle. In other words, they are not exempting entire payment systems, but rather payment systems in certain situations. Yes, it is confusing.

The proposed regulations exempt the participants named above except for certain exceptions, including the participant who possesses the customer relationship with the Internet gambling business. (This is one of the areas where the Agencies want feedback.) Regarding checks, if a bank receives a check deposit from a gambling business, the depository bank is supposedly in a position where, utilizing due diligence, the bank should be able to know whether the transaction is a forbidden one.