19-04-2007 US Congress may be ready to reconsider the UIGEA

While the NETeller hearing has been further delayed to May, Rep. Barney Frank told the Las Vegas Review Journal that opposition against the internet gambling ban passed last year is growing. "I think a lot of members of Congress voted for that (ban) without having given it a lot of attention," said Frank. "And I think that this may be a case where, after the fact of having voted for it, people don't like it and they reconsider."

Frank, who is the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, also acknowledged that although Congress may not be ready to change the ban dramatically, lawmakers are hearing from people who don't like it and the situation remains very fluid.

Speaking to iGaming News, Alex Waldrop, President of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, expressed his distaste for the way the US Government has handled the WTO dispute against Antigua.

"The unfortunate fact is that gambling should have never been included under the General Agreement on Trade in Services in the first place," said Waldrop. "And the only logical solution, perhaps not a practical solution, is to withdraw gaming from GATS."

In other news, Jay Graziani of MajorWager.com said offshore gambling could actually serve as the biggest boon the US horse racing industry has seen in years and he invited the racing industry to legalize online race wagering for foreign operators and require offshore companies to commingle into track pools.