Chairman of American Gaming Association Calls New United States Anti-Gambling Legislation Senseless

Terri Lanni, who is currently serving both as the head of the MGM Mirage, the colossal United States based gambling enterprise, and as the board chairman of the American Gaming Association, did not mince his words recently while discussing the newly passed Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. He delivered his comments at the G2E conference which took place last week in Las Vegas.

He described as being completely senseless the latest United States legislation that requires United States based credit card companies, banks and Internet online payment services to cease from processing payments directed toward online gambling firms or face legal penalties. He added that it was his hope that the change in leadership of the United States Congress through the shift in the balance of power to the Democratic party, would lead to a reappraisal of legislation relating to online betting. 

Noting how the anti-gambling legislation was rammed through the Congress and its being combined with a more serious bill, one that had nothing to do with online gambling, was indicative of how the Republican Party was simply serving the interests of the religious right. He also mentioned that the bill was passed without the usual debate or legislative considerations.  Last October the senator from Tennessee, Bill Frist, managed to attach this Internet anti-gambling bill onto one that was more popular dealing with port security. Senator is actually leaving the Congress as he prepares for a possible run for the White House in 2008 on the Republican ticket.

In his speech to the conference, Lanni said that his company, MGM, is interested in a private study of the effectiveness of regulating online gambling within the United States.

UK Gaming Commission head, Peter Dean, followed Lanni as a conference speaker. In his speech he mentioned that Great Britain prefers to regulate online gambling rather than making it illegal and that as a nation, Britain intends to lead the world in regulating Internet gambling.

Noting that historically prohibition has not worked in the United States, Dean predicted that rather than stopping Internet gambling, the new legislation would only drive it underground.

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