UIGEA – Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act

The History of UIGEA
Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in abbreviated form “UIGEA”, is a law attached as Title VIII to Security and Accountability For Every Port Act of 2006 or shortly the SAFE Port Act and was asserted at the end of September 2006. UIGEA initially was not the section of SAFE Port Act which was pushed through the Senate by the authority of conference committee on 14.09.2006, however there exists an opinion that this law was slipped in Security and Accountability For Every Port Act of 2006 having held no controversy on this point in the Senate. The purpose of the Act is to enjoin bankroll remittance from financial organizations to online sites for spieling. Harness and horse races, fancy sports or raffles via internet do not form a part of UIGEA.

Confusion Surrounding UIGEA
Actually the Act is not to forbid gaming via internet. It is there to forbid bankroll remittance from financial organizations to internet sites for spieling. It means that UIGEA does not contain bans against private persons to gamble via Internet casinos; however the question concerns taking bankroll from civilians of U.S. by online casino sites established in the United States to their accounts.

Opposition to UIGEA
A great many polemics are there around the Act that keep on growing and go with more dispute and gravamen. The concrete example is bringing of a suit to the WTO against the United States by Antigua, an island in the Caribbean. The suit asserted the prohibition of gambling via Internet by the United States which led to radical affection of the incomings to such little island as Antigua. Moreover it asserted that online casino sites and online poker sites should not be prohibited by the Act as allowed online raffles and horserace. IMEGA standing for Interactive Media Entertainment Gaming Association has charged with another opposing point against UIGEA which consists in interfering civilians of the United States with the right to make choice of their own and live of their free will in private.

UIGEA is covered with a lot of uncertainty and vagueness. For the most part it depends on financial organizations to urge UIGEA by means of enjoining remittance that are supposed to be the aim of gaming via Internet. According to their statement, the expression “unlawful Internet gambling” is ambiguous and it has not been elucidated. There are two alternatives for financial organizations: firstly they may forbid all fiscal remittances which are apparently implicated somehow or other with whatever type of gaming, and secondly, they may endeavor to identify lawful remittances and unlawful ones. In the majority of cases these methods are inconsequent and conduce to a great number of disappointed clients. Therefore financial institutions are also disappointed with the Act quite reasonably.

The Effects of UIGEA on US Players
As a result of ambiguous environment about the Act and particularly the forbidden point, a large number of foreign online casinos ceased admitting gamblers from the United States to their casinos. Nevertheless the operators which keep on admitting U.S. gamblers have more problems and obstacles what types of payment is available for such customers in order to bankroll their accounts at respective casino. A wider variety of admissible types of payment is being presented continuously, however as before there is a letdown degree for both customers as well as internet casinos. One more influence of this Act is the aspect that the vast amounts of money are being transmitted outside the country to foreign casinos which leads to tremendous losses of income for native casino operators.