Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act UIGEA - Safe Port ActThe Security and Accountability For Every Port Act of 2006 (or SAFE Port Act, Pub.L. 109-347[1]) was an Act of Congress in the United States covering port security and to which an online gambling measure was added at the last moment. The House and Senate passed the conference report on September 30, 2006, and President Bush signed the Act into law on October 13, 2006.[2]
Contents [hide]
1 Port security provisions
2 Internet gambling provisions
2.1 Legislative history
2.2 Responses from online gambling sites
2.3 WTO dispute
2.4 Challenge to UIGEA part of Act
3 See also
4 Notes
5 External links
[edit] Port security provisions
The SAFE Port Act codified into law a number of programs to improve security of U.S. ports, such as:
Additional requirements for maritime facilities
Creation of the Transportation Worker Identification Credential
Establishment of interagency operational centers for port security
Port Security Grant Program
Container Security Initiative
Foreign port assessments
Customs Trade Partnership against Terrorism
In addition, the Act created the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office within the Department of Homeland Security and appropriated funds toward the Integrated Deepwater System Program, a long-term U.S. Coast Guard modernization program.[3]
[edit] Internet gambling provisions
Main article: Online gambling#United States
Title VIII of the Act is also known as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (or UIGEA). This title (found at 31 U.S.C. § 5361–5367) prohibits the transfer of funds from a financial institution to Internet gambling sites, specifically excluding fantasy sports, online lotteries, and horse/harness racing.
[edit] Legislative history
The Act was passed at midnight on the day Congress adjourned for the 2006 elections. Though a bill with the gambling wording was previously debated and passed by the House of Representatives,[4][5][6] the SAFE Port Act (H.R. 4954) as passed by the House on May 4th (by a vote of 421-2) and the United States Senate on September 14th (98-0),[7] bore no traces of the Unlawful Internet Gambling and Enforcement Act that was included in the SAFE Port Act signed into law by George W. Bush on October 13th, 2006.[8] The UIGEA was added in Conference Report 109-711 (submitted at 9:29pm on September 29, 2006), which was passed by the House of Representatives by a vote of 409-2 and by the Senate by unanimous consent on September 30, 2006. Due to H.RES.1064, the reading of this conference report was waived.
Among the more prominent Congressional supporters of the Act were Jim Leach, a former chairman of the House Banking Committee and Rep. Robert Goodlatte [R-VA], who co-authored H.R. 4411 (the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act). Bill Frist, former majority leader of the Senate, and Jon Kyl are both credited with expediting the UIGEA’s passage through the Senate. Though the SAFE Port Act’s provisions related to Internet gambling were drawn exclusively from H.R. 4411, significant portions were removed, including text relating to the Federal Wire Act.[9]
A prior version of the gambling part of the bill passed the House in 1999 but failed in the Senate in part due to the influence of lobbyist Jack Abramoff.[10]
UIGEA § 5364 required that regulations be issued by the Federal Reserve and the Department of the Treasury within 270 days of the passage of the Act. In October, 2007, these agencies issued a “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking”,[11] which effectively tabled draft UIGEA regulations for public comment. In response to the NPRM, four hundred and ten (410) responses were received from depository institutions, depository institution associations, public policy advocacy groups, consumers, “gambling-related” entities, payment system operators, federal agencies, and members of Congress.
The Bush administration had previously adopted the position that it would not finalize any rule subsequent to November 1, 2008. This last-minute rulemaking that binds the hands of an incoming administration is commonly termed the midnight drop.
The final regulations (termed the “Final Rule”) were finalized and released November 12, 2008, and came into effect on January 19, 2009, the day before the Obama administration took office.[12] Compliance is not required until December 1, 2009 in order to give the “non-exempt participants” an opportunity to implement the necessary safeguards and procedures.
[edit] Responses from online gambling sites
All online gambling sites listed on the London Stock Exchange or similar markets have stopped taking United States players due to the passage of the Act, while most non-public companies have announced an intention to continue taking US customers.[13][14]
PartyGaming Plc, which runs PartyPoker.com, had its publicly-traded stock drop almost 60% in 24 hours as a result of this bill being passed. The company was moved from the FTSE 100 to the FTSE 250 Index on October 11.[15]
[edit] WTO dispute
Antigua and the United States have been involved in a long-running World Trade Organization dispute over U.S. restrictions on online gambling. The WTO ruled on January 25, 2007 that the U.S. is in violation of its treaty obligations by not granting full market access to online gambling companies based in the island nation.[16] On March 30, 2007 the WTO confirmed the U.S. loss in the case.[17]
On June 19, Antigua filed a claim for USD $3.4 billion in trade sanctions against the United States, along with a request for authorization to ignore U.S. patent and copyright laws. This claim was filed a day after similar demands for compensation were made by the European Union.[18]
The United States settled the dispute by granting concessions in other sectors. The administration of President George W. Bush refused to disclose the details of those concessions, however. In April 2008 Congressmen Barney Frank and Ron Paul called for the agreements to be made public. They stated that the concessions “could cost the United States many billions of dollars in compensation” and that the administration’s invocation of “national security” as a reason to block disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was “a misuse of the FOIA process.”[19] When the administration continued to keep the information secret, Public Citizen brought suit on behalf of Ed Brayton, a journalist whose FOIA request had been denied.[20]
[edit] Challenge to UIGEA part of Act
In May 2009, U.S. Congressman Barney Frank introduced a bill to overturn the gambling aspects of the Act, “The Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act,” which seeks to repeal the major online gaming obstacles of the UIGEA and go further in protecting Americans from fraud, while safeguarding against underage and problem gamblers.[21]
Frank also introduced a bill to delay the implementations of the UIGEA for one year, until Dec. 1, 2010.[22] The bill was put into effect, however, the regulations were only extended until June 1, 2010.
[edit] See also
Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002
Port security
Transportation Worker Identification Credential
Baxter v. United States
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania vs Walter Walkins
Southern District of New York Action Against Online Poker Players
[edit] Notes
1.^ Text of the SAFE Port Act, via House.gov
2.^ Library of Congress Congressional record for the SAFE Port Act
3.^ Congressional Budget Office analysis of H.R. 4954, prepared April 28, 2006
4.^ Transcript of the April 5th hearing
5.^ Transcript of July 11th floor speeches on H.R. 4411 – the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act
6.^ H.R. 4411 vote record
7.^ H.R. 4954 vote record
8.^ Nelson Rose: The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 Analyzed
9.^ CRS Report for Congress, 10-2-06
10.^ Washington Post: How a Lobbyist Stacked the Deck
11.^ [1]
12.^ [2]
13.^ The Guardian: Players walk away as US law wipes out 90% of PartyGaming’s poker revenue
14.^ The Guardian: Last chance saloon for online gaming firms
15.^ The Guardian: PartyGaming drops out of FTSE 100. Retrieved 9 October 2006
16.^ WTO rules against US in online gambling case
17.^ Reuters: WTO confirms U.S. loss in Internet gambling case
18.^ BBC: Antigua demands trade sanctions
19.^ Polson, Sarah (April 2, 2008). “Congressmen request trade settlement details”. PokerListings.com. http://www.pokerlistings.com/frank-paul-request-gats-agreement-24836. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
20.^ Polson, Sarah (May 21, 2008). “Group sues government for settlement info”. PokerListings.com. http://www.pokerlistings.com/group-sues-government-for-wto-info-27079. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
21.^ CardPlayer.com — Frank’s Bill to Regulate Online Poker Unlikely To Be Heard This Month
22.^ CardPlayer.com — Barney Frank Introduces Two Poker-Related Bills
