THURSDAY IS UIGEA R-DAY

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Congressman Frank plans to launch his proposal to repeal the UIGEA Thursday

Both international wire services and mainstream media are currently reporting widely on the first serious challenge to the U.S. Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act - a repeal attempt that the Democrat chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Congressman Barney Frank will soon launch.

Frank said at a banking function that he will make his initial moves as early as Thursday, but he has emphasised that significant player support will improve the chances of getting the much criticised UIGEA off the books.

Speaking to a community bankers group, the Massachusetts Democrat called Internet gambling a "victimless crime."

"Why anyone thinks it is any of my business why some adult wants to gamble is absolutely beyond me," The Congressman said in his address.  "I spend a lot of my time trying to protect people from other people who are going to treat them unfairly," Frank said in a speech before the Independent Community Bankers of America. "I have no energy left for protecting people from themselves."

After the speech, Frank, who took over as chairman of the influential House Financial Services Committee this year, declined to provide details of the planned legislation.  

Andrew Parmentier, a senior policy analyst at Friedman Billings Ramsey, said he believes the bill could make headway. "Absolutely there's a chance" for reform of the law, he said in a telephone interview with Marketing Watch.

The estimated 12 million to 20 million online gamblers in the U.S. contribute more than half the industry's estimated worldwide annual revenues, last conservatively estimated at $12 billion, according to the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Centre.

Frank is expected to outline details of his bill at a press conference at 10 a.m. (1400 GMT) on Thursday, a spokesman said.

In the meantime, players and industry folk alike are being urged to make their opposition to the UIGEA known. A list of contact numbers for political representatives in the USA is now available at http://www.casinomeister.com/US_congress.php and several other sites, and a petition at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/t ... 9419?ltl=1177341828 is reportedly attracting signatures at the estimated rate of over 100 an hour.