Illinois paved the way for states selling lottery tickets online. Now some experts believe that the U.S. Department of Justice ruling that allowed for such online sales will open the door for other forms of online gambling to sweep across the nation.
“We’re going to have Internet gambling that everybody acknowledges is Internet gambling, and it’s going to be in less than 10 years,” I. Nelson Rose, a law professor and gaming consultant, said today at the National Conference of State Legislatures' legislative summit in Chicago. Rose said the Justice Department ruling, which Illinois and New York requested, allows for many new forms of online gaming — such as poker and even versions of popular games such as the Internet Phenomena Angry Birds, with added wagering components.
Senate President John Cullerton has already floated the idea of online gaming to the Illinois General Assembly. “Certain forms of iGaming, especially poker, rely on large pools of potential players, and states that move swiftly to design a system that captures the widest audience of participants will have an advantage in terms of long-range success,” Cullerton wrote in a letter to legislative leaders and Gov. Pat Quinn.
But some experts believe that states that turn to gambling may make their economies worse. “Gambling’s effect on our economy is like reverse pump priming. It is taking money away from consumer spending and dumping it basically into electronic gambling machines,” said John Kindt, a professor of business and legal policy at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Kindt said that Congress should evaluate the ruling and consider banning Internet gambling. "States are going to do whatever they think they can get away with to expand gambling simply because they need the revenue. The only way to prohibit it is for Congress to completely ban it again because states need more than a little oversight when it comes to certain things that have the potential to destroy their economies. Internet gambling is public enemy No. 1 in that regard. It’s an incredible economic danger that cannot be overstated.
You can read Jamey's full report at: http://illinoisissuesblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/states-seeking-revenue-could-create.html
No comments:
Post a Comment