Congress tries to ban 'Net gambling again

A bill to ban Internet gambling, supported by Nevada's two senators, was approved by a voice vote with no major changes by a Senate subcommittee.

Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl's Internet Gaming Prohibition Act of 1999 cleared the subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism and Government Information on Wednesday and next will be heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee. A hearing date hasn't been set.

The bill includes a provision that Internet service providers would be enlisted to prevent access to illegal gambling sites.

A spokeswoman for Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said the senator would offer amendments clarifying the role of Internet service providers when the bill reaches the Judiciary Committee. Feinstein's office had no other details this morning.

But an Internet service provider based in Boulder City said it was outrageous that his industry would be required to police Internet access to potentially illegal sites.

"Do I get a gun, a badge and diplomatic immunity too?" asked Warren Harhay, president of Access Nevada, one of the region's oldest Internet service providers. "At the core, I'm sure that the proposal is well-meaning. But ultimately, it may just breed contempt for the law and there are a lot of questions in my mind as to how it would work.

"Is some kind of enforcement group going to be set up?" he asked. "Are we going to be trained how to do this? Are we going to be given legal counsel? And the bottom line is, who's going to pay for it?"

Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., who Kyl said was instrumental in drumming up Senate support for a similar measure last year, and Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., favor the bill because they think Internet gambling lacks the regulation that state-monitored gaming has.

"We should not be in the practice of turning America's family rooms into betting parlors," Bryan said in a prepared statement. "With more than 300 gambling websites already easily accessible to our kids, it is past time that we put a stop to this uncontrolled and unregulated gambling."

Kyl's bill would be an extension of current law prohibiting the placing of bets over the telephone. It's an update of the Wire Communications Act of 1961.

Under the bill, businesses that offer casino-style gambling over the Internet would be fined an amount equal to the bets they received or $20,000, whichever is greater. Business owners could be imprisoned for up to four years.

The legislation does not have provisions to punish customers who are caught gambling over the Internet.

But Kyl's bill, which is being fought by an association of online gaming companies, has a long way to go before it becomes law. While Senate supporters think passage is a slam dunk, a sponsor has yet to come forward on the House side. Last year, a House version got bogged down by special interests seeking exemptions from the legislation and the bill eventually died.

Bryan said he doesn't want to see the gaming industry sullied by unregulated online casinos.

"In the virtual games, there's no way of knowing if a game is rigged," Bryan said in an interview after the bill's mark-up. "In a real casino, a customer can win. It's not rigged to preclude the possibility of the customer winning. Even if you do win in an Internet game, who's to say that the site will even be around next week?"

Bryan also defended the role of Internet service providers helping to police the gambling ban. He doesn't see it as enlisting service providers as law enforcers.

"It's merely a mechanism for notification," Bryan said. "Once the proper authorities are notified of the situation, they will act."

Kyl's proposal wouldn't ban play-for-fun games, nor would it ban hotel-casino advertising on the Internet.

"It is time to nip this still relatively small problem in the bud," Bryan said, "before it becomes completely unmanageable. One thing is abundantly clear: With no state or federal regulation, Internet gambling is a bad bet."

The American Gaming Association has favored the Kyl bill in the past for the same reasons noted by Bryan. AGA officials could not be reached for comment today on the new legislation.

"We should not be in the practice of turning America's family rooms into betting parlors."Sen. Richard Bryan Nevada Democrat

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