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Just one week away from a scheduled meeting with the European Union about current online gaming regulations, the U.S. has postponed the trade talks. The EU requested the meetings because they feel the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) is in violation of a treaty laid out by the World Trade Organization (WTO).

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This week, Congressman Pete Sessions, a Republican from Texas, introduced HR 6663, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Clarification and Implementation Act. It’s a bill that attempts to clarify the vague language of the UIGEA by taking aim at the sports betting industry in the United States. Under HR 6663, the Attorney General of the United States would be instructed to focus his UIGEA enforcement efforts on halting this enormous moneymaker. HR 6663 is summed up by its Rule of Construction at the end of the document: “No provision of this Act, or any amendment made by this Act, shall be construed as clarifying or implying that Internet bets or wagers, other than sports bets or wagers, which were accepted subsequent to October 13, 2006, are in violation of Federal law.” It’s gotten mixed reviews from around the online poker world.

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Word broke on Friday across the online poker world that United States Congressman Pete Sessions (R-TX) introduced HR 6663, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Clarification and Implementation Act of 2008. As the name implies, its purpose is to diagnose exactly what should be deemed legal and illegal under the UIGEA. Backed by three high-powered Congressmen as co-sponsors, all Democrats, HR 6663 represents the need for clarification to the law that was ushered through Congress and attached to the SAFE Port Act back in 2006. With Congress currently in an August recess, discussion on HR 6663 will not occur in the House Judiciary Committee until September at the earliest.

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On the second to last day of the 2008 Congressional session before the August recess in the United States, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing. Its goal was to discuss a resolution to place Karl Rove in contempt as well as discuss 12 bills for mark up. One of the bills on the agenda was HR 2140, the Internet Gambling Study Act, which was proposed by Congresswoman Shelley Berkley (D-NV). The hearing did not go as planned, however, with the Committee taking most of its time to discuss Rove, who was eventually found to be in contempt. Consequently, Berkley’s bill was not debated. On Thursday, Congress adjourned for the August recess, meaning the online poker world will have to wait until September in order for this, or any, piece of legislation to be discussed.

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An open letter written by four Republican Congressman to the heads of the Federal Reserve Board and U.S. Treasury calls for a more “deliberative” approach for crafting regulations for the implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) and strongly urges that a formal definition of “unlawful internet gambling” itself be finalized before the law’s required rules are placed into effect.

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In the United States,residents of 48 states can gamble legally, and no major city in the continental U.S. is located more than a short drive from a gambling venue. Yet a number of laws continue to restrict Americans’ ability to gamble on the Internet. The three main laws are:

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The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently has gone after Internet poker businesses with a vengeance—even though it may not have the authority to do so—driving many of them overseas. Now the House of Representatives is considering legislation to tell the Justice Department to leave Internet poker businesses alone. So would that constitute a needed clarification of jurisdictional authority? Sadly, no. The same statutory ambiguities that the Justice Department is now using to drive Internet poker out of America are in the proposed bill.

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It’s been a roller coaster ride for the online poker industry over the last month. In June, HR 5767, which would have suspended the regulations of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, was defeated in Committee by virtue of a verbal vote. Last week, Democrats in Congress struck back. Jim McDermott, from Washington State, introduced legislation that would earmark up to $40 billion over the next ten years to underserved populations for job training and educational assistance.

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