Almost 9 000 American poker players have signed a petition started by a corporate financial attorney in Santa Monica this week, protesting the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and urging Congress to regulate and tax online gambling rather than trying to destroy it.
Lawyer Jim Perkins, a corporate/finance attorney in Santa Monica, California, who has played poker online since 1998, said he’s been following American attempts to ban online gambling since the first, and unsuccessful, Leach Bill on which the current legislation is largely founded.
When the bill, attached to a completely unrelated port security bill was controversially passed on September 30 it was the last straw for Perkins, who decided to do something about making the players’ voices heard by starting a ptition.
Addressed to all members of the Congress and Senate, the petition says:
“We would like to register our strong disagreement with and disapproval of the recently enacted bill regarding the prohibition and/or regulation of internet gambling. The bill was originally introduced in the House of Representatives by Representative Goodlatte and was attached to ‘must pass’ legislation in the Senate by Senator Frist.
“We strongly believe that the government should not attempt to prohibit online gambling by adults. We favor legalization, regulation and taxation of online gambling by the government of the United States.”
“People who want to gamble online will gamble online,” Perkins said. “By passing a bill that attempts to prohibit people from engaging in an activity that many millions of people clearly want to engage in, the government is driving the activity underground and creating the likelihood of greater harm.”
Perkins said he’s had support from various Internet news groups and communities to help get the word out about the survey, but was surprised by the lack of support from online gaming sites, organizations such as the Poker Players’ Alliance, and other groups and businesses that would have a vested interest in supporting online gaming.
“I have been surprised that no businesses or organizations that would seem to be most interested in promoting online gambling have stepped in to promote this drive,” Perkins said. “I wrote to all the major online poker sites and got back a message that basically their official position was ‘no comment.'”