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The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006

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The “Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006” was a last minute addition, pushed through minutes before the election period recess. According to Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), no one on the Senate-House Conference Committee had seen the final language of the bill before it was passed.[1] The Act is Title VIII of a completely unrelated bill, the SAFE Port Act, dealing with port security.[2]

Section 5361, Findings and Purpose

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The Act begins with Congress’s findings and purpose. Findings include a recommendation from the now discredited National Gambling Impact Study Commission. One of the controversial findings asserted in the opening of the bill is the assertion that Internet gambling is a growing problem for banks and credit card companies.[3] The opening section of the act also states that that “new mechanisms for enforcing gambling laws on the Internet are necessary,” especially for cross-border betting. The Act contains a clause that ensures no change be made any other law or Indian compact.[4] This clause makes known that the Act cannot be used as a defense to another crime, or to expand existing gambling.

Section 5362, Definitions

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This section outlines definitions of gambling terms to be used throughout the act. The Act defines a bet or wager to include risking something of value on the outcome of a contest, sports event, “or a game subject to chance.” The “game subject to chance” restriction is designed to include Internet poker in the act.[5]