Further info from my post last week: Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA) has taken another step in its suit against the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act by asking for a restraining order against the enactment of the new law. The UIGEA further restricts online gambling in the United States by making transactions between banks and online gambling sites illegal. The act was passed into law late in 2006. In June iMEGA filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government to challenge the UIGEA. As the next step in challenging the law, iMEGA's legal team filed a brief in the New Jersey U.S. 3rd District Court requesting a temporary restraining order against enforcement of the act. "From iMEGA's standpoint, we did not want the defendants (U.S. Dept. of Justice, Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Reserve) to use the allowed 60 days in their summonses in order to stall and give themselves more time to promulgate the regulations for UIGEA," saisd Joe Brennan Jr., iMEGA founder. According to an iMEGA release, the brief is necessary to have the court consider the issue of a temporary restraining order. Its intent is to accelerate the time line for an initial hearing on the case in U.S. Circuit Court, and to force the defendants to respond to the organization's complaint and restraining order request. "We're confident that this will expedite the Court's review of our TRO request and force the government to respond before their 60 days are up," Brennan said. "And, we are very confident about the merits of our request." iMEGA, a new media entertainment group and gaming association, is challenging the UIGEA on the basis that it violates citizens' constitutional rights. Americans have the right to live how they want to and be free from the government imposing public morality in the privacy of one's home. Edward Leyden, iMEGA president, said in a previous press release that the intent of the lawsuit is to encourage regulation and taxation of Internet gaming, rather than outright banning the industry.
iMEGA Vs. UIGEA Hearing Set For September 4th The Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA) filed a lawsuit on June 5th against the US Attorney General, Alberto Gonzalez, to halt enforcement of the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act). It was revealed today that a hearing date for September 4th, 2007 has been set by a Federal Judge in New Jersey. US District Court Judge Mary L. Cooper will preside over the case in Trenton, NJ. The UIGEA was attached to an unrelated Port Security Bill, signed into effect in October of 2006, making the facilitation of fund transfers by a financial institution between gambling operators and US citizens illegal - effectively preventing Americans from legally placing wagers over the Internet. Attorney for iMEGA, Eric M. Bernstein, Esq. states, "The purpose of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act is to prevent Americans from engaging in their fundamental rights to conduct their lives in the manner they wish to live it - to be free from the government imposing public morality in the privacy of one's home." US Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, the US Federal Trade Commission and the US Federal Reserve are all named in the case. The filing requests a 'Temporary Restraining Order' to halt all manners of enforcement of the UIGEA until courts have heard all testimony against the bill.
I applaud this effort - however I fear this will do nothing to alleviate the current funding situation.
Maybe not Fred but with another 3 posts between us discussing it BJT should keep going up the post rankings
What I'm interested in, and I can't seem to find any information regarding this, is the efforts of the individuals in their states. If, for example, they would keep a public blog, it may encourage others to "take on" their state laws. A perfect example is the state of Michigan and LeftNut. I feel his passion about not being able to play on ClubUBT and I believe that if he was given some support/direction/assistance then he and others who live in Michigan would be able to petition their lawmakers to overturn the law which prevents them from playing on The Club The problem, as I understand it, is that no one even knows what law it is that prohibits Club UBT from accepting Michigan players!
I have found a petition with lots of comments from people all over America, Have started a new post and hope everyone signs it
This law will never change for US cits until the games are operated as legal US entities that are fully taxable and subject to audit same as the Brick and Morters are. Its foolish to assume or hope otherwise. The land of the free is a misnomer. We are not free to win a million dollars tax free online. Right now the honor system would encourage us to pay our tax on the win...nothing more. Anyone who thinks unfiltered and unaccounted for billions are going to be allowed to funnel off untaxed to some third world Caribean island in the name of freedom is sadly misunderstanding the ecomomics of the situation. I dont think my governament even cares that these operators are for the most part made up of unreliable criminal element with no business ethics or that follow any laws. Rather they are concerned to keep this money here and tax it as they tax any other legal business. The days of cheating unreliable criminal element running poker and BJ sites are numbered. Its a matter of time until a model is presented to our lawmakers that allows taxable regulated gaming that isnt a shield for the money laundering shady crooks operating the games today. Its not about freedom, morals or any other reason...when a method is in place to operate these games in our country...to monitor and tax the game ...then you will see legal online gambling again in the USA. Its only a little ironic that these funds are drying up were before billions were sent unaccounted for to any number of small island criminals. Port security was the mule that carried the trojan horse to these island games. The game in these small islands will never return to US citizens in its old form...NEVER! But Im am sure we can some day get the game back online...It will be a US based game though.
Is it not about time then putting the shoe on the other foot, That U.S citizens where not taxed on Gambling winnings, I just can't really get my head round this why you should be in the first place. Casino's should pay Tax on their profits fair enough, But if someone wants to gamble there money it's upto them, if they were to loose every penny they had is Uncle Sam going to say hey sorry your a crap Gambler here is 30% back as we have taken it from the person who was on that fruit machine Before you who Won!!! I THINK NOT. If it was a sensible amount maybe people would not care about it but 30% is a total Joke, You are no doubt Taxed on this money when you earn it originally, When you spend it in shops etc you are taxed on it, but why if you gamble it, In the UK even online Betting ie Horses, Dogs etc which use to have a choice of 10% tax on bet or on winnings (obviously if you were backing a 100-1 horse you paid it on the bet!) has been scrapped, Not sure if that counts in bookmakers, Fruit machine owners pay a basic small percentage on profit, which of course is stored in machine. Then again we do get screwed on everything else lol :laugh: Alcohol, Cigrattes, Petrol even prostitutes if Gordon Brown Gets his way :flame:
Just to correct 2 mis-conceptions: 1) Withholding 30% of non-residence winnings is done to help guarantee our government gets it's tax money. The government will often not get to keep that full 30% (as in your case) - depends on the filing status of the non-resident. 2) US citizens are not taxed a straight 30% of gambling winning. The percent we pay depends on the "tax bracket" of the individual involved. A low income individual may pay no tax while a high income individual may pay 35%. This explanation is meant as a simple and quick overview and not meant to take into account the full complexities of our tax laws nor our state tax laws.
