(c) 2006 YourCompany http://www.bingostandard.com Aftermath and fall out from the USA's decision to do away with internet gambling. en-us Thu, 31 May 2007 01:48:08 GMT http://www.bingostandard.com http://www.bingostandard.com Thu, 31 May 2007 01:48:08 GMT Well it seems that everyone is getting excited about the aftermath and fall out from the USA's decision to do away with internet gambling. What they did not take into account when passing the law, was the impact on thousands of people that are either directly or indirectly employed by the internet gaming industry in the USA. Right now it seems that the only winners from the introduction of the law is the land based casino and bingo hall industry, but before they also get too excited they should just hold on. Right now several countries are challenging the legislation as 'unfair' and has caused direct hardship and unemployment for many around the world. Antigua as we speak has taken a case to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and we wait to see the ultimate outcome from that. I say ultimate, because the news is that the WTO has supported Antigua's claim but their decision has not as yet fallen on listening ear's within the USA. So who are the winner's and loser's since the enactment of this law (UIGEA- Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act). Currently no one is yelling whoopee! not the gaming industry or the hard done by gambling community. Before I get bogged down with laws and bureaucracy I want to just highlight the human impact this has had on a personal friend of mine. Yesterday I spoke with my neighbor, 62 year old grandma of 8, who has been an avid bingo player for most of her adult life. Since her son brought her a computer 8 years back, and got her up and started she became almost a full time bingo player. Her family have now all moved away for various reasons and the only real friends she has or values are those that she had made in the chat rooms in the online bingo sites. So what has the coming of the UIGEA done to her lifestyle? As you can guess, she is real angry, but more importantly she has become depressed. She just can't understand why she is not able to spend her pension money how and where she chooses. She is left rather dumbfounded by the whole shenanigans. She had never heard of the act when it was first proposed and only got to know something was afoot after her usual bingo site closed her account and then the next site, and then the next. It's only after a lot of calls to her chat-room buddies that things became clear to her. So the following weekend she tries to go back to her 'old bingo haunt's' only to find that they had either been demolished or turned into warehouse space. When she did find one it took her an hour and a half to get there with 2 bus changes. Getting back home was a nightmare and very frightening, it was past midnight before she reached her front door. Quiet rightly she didn't attempt this ordeal again. Her options now ? well she smiles and said she's back online and with a wink made no further comment ! Back to the UIGEA, we still need to wait and see what happens. To date no prosecutions or cases have been brought to court, so until that happens, if ever, people will continue to be confused, inconvenienced and very worried about staying on the right side of the law because right now, calling "House" could land them in the 'jail-house' !