Another Possible Legal Threat To Online Gambling 

May 28, 2009 - Written by Renee

The biggest threat to online gambling today is undoubtedly the UIGEA. The UIGEA was not a stand alone bill, but was a small part of a large bill that dealt with security issues in the face of terrorism. And it was in that context that the UIGEA was sneakily passed by the Congress in 2006. While the fight against UIGEA is building up, another bill has been introduced this year that has all the makings of becoming another “UIGEA”. 

This is the Cybersecurity Act of 2009, which is currently under consideration by the US Senate. It was introduced by Senator John Rockefeller and others on the 1st of April. On the face of it the objective of the bill is to strengthen the use of the Internet for purposes such as commerce and trade, especially in maintaining effective security of the system. However the bill has certain enabling provisions that will have far reaching consequences for online gambling and for all other uses of the Internet in general. 

The President can declare a cyber security emergency and order the total or partial shutdown of the Internet to prevent traffic to and fro from any government or private information system or network. The President can also authorize bureaucratic agencies like the FBI or the DoJ to act on his behalf. The bill does not define what a cyber security emergency can be. It leaves that definition to the government of the United States through the President and those designated by him. In the worst the bill can block certain sites, certain users or certain processes that the government may feel are detrimental to security. Online gambling can be one of these. 

As of now, there seems to have been no reaction to this bill from any of the organizations that support online gambling.