27-02-2008 Senators criticize UIGEA in a letter to the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve System

Senators John Sununu and Pete Domenici said that implementing the UIGEA regulations as set forth by the October Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would inordinately burden every bank, credit union, credit card company, money transmitting business and payment system in the country, leading to non-uniform compliance and confusion.

Sununu and Domenici suggested to separate the rules into those forms of activities for which there is settled federal law as defined by the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act and those that are not. "This would allow immediate implementation for known activities, while providing greater time to determine what other transactions are to be captured," said the letter to the U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve System.

In other news, the Associated Press reported that the Poker Players Alliance spent $900,000 in 2007 to lobby the US Government on a bill that would exempt poker from the online gambling ban.