Experts Opine Frank’s Bill Against Freedom 

Barney Frank was used to criticism from the lobby that advocated a ban on online gambling. He is now being opposed by legal experts who state that his bill is against personal freedom. This comes as a surprise because personal freedom is one of the mainstays of Frank’s arguments. 

Bartlett Cleland, director of the IPI Center for Technology Freedom, put forward this view in an interview to an online portal Opposing Views. He said that replacing a ban with regulation by the government and heavy taxation is not personal freedom. Harold Krent, dean of the Chicago-Kent College of Law, also voices similar concerns. According to Krent the essence of the American federalist system is that each state decides its own codes of conduct. Today the states take their independent decision on gambling and on online gambling. Forcing them to accept the diktat of a federal regulatory mechanism is not promoting freedom, but curbing it. 

Cleland voices another concern. He says, “The notion that any activity should be legalized simply as a means to raise revenue seems poor justification.” He is also unsure that the projected revenues would accrue. Most of the online gambling takes place offshore. Therefore the law would require self-disclosure of winnings. Or the online gambling operators, both American and offshore, “would need to cooperate by sending statements of individuals’ winnings that cannot be counted on”. Any other alternative would have to be “an aggressively invasive plan”, which would impinge on personal freedom. 

Some experts did favor Frank’s bill at Opposing Views, citing the arguments that Frank has been giving all along.