Every day brings a new nightmare with the UIGEA. I have been reading Roll the Bones by David G. Schwartz andI’ll admit to taking my time as I float throughtwo to three pages at a time before I have to scurry off to do other things.There are so many gambling facts and figures spread out over mankind’s known existence that it’s difficult to even begin to absorb and remember most of it. Out of all of the amazing facts and mankind’s obsession with gambling, since our beginning (or so it would seem), onefact is always pushed into our faces. CONTROL!

There is always a group or a select few that feel that their morals should be forced upon the rest of the world. Gambling is sinful, gambling is immoral, gambling is a problem – according to who? If you feel gambling is sinful then DON’T DO IT, DUMBUTT! If you feel it’s immoral then look the other way and stop trying to force the rest of the world to your belief and thought. If you feel gambling is a problem, then go to GA. If your kids are gambling under age, what are you doing while they are doing it? Get involved, get a grip, take a stand for your children and yourself by taking care of them and instilling proper values in their life. But don’t try to choke the rest of the world with your belief when most of us aren’t where you are. Get it?

The arrests of Neteller founders for money laundering are the most recent disgusting show of our loss of freedoms and rights. Where do you think this is going people? Do you think this is only about gambling? This is about control. Amazingly, EBay supported the UIGEA.Why would any site that hasa commercial interest on the internet feel that they are helping themselves by standing behind government control on the internet? The internet is about freedom. We just lost it. And it’s going to get worse, there will be more control and perhaps in the not so distant future, everything you do with a computer – yes your private, home computer – maybe be controlled by the government. Please hold the barf bag for me, I can’t stop puking.

Let me set the stage; you provide the mental imagery and vocals. The US has now set in motion a law banning internet gambling. In order to do that, all forms of funding/banking/money transfersfor online gaming sites have to be the super cop of cyberspace and stop transactions to and from the offshore sites that host gaming. Just to show the world that the US means business, people that reside/travel into the US and have/had some form of association with a money transfer/banking/funding company and people that have had a connection with any kind of gambling site are now subject to arrest and prosecution. And the US is threatening to prosecute outside the boundaries of the US.

What does that mean to you and me? Perhaps if we travel outside the US, other countries will retaliate and arrest us because we have an online account in their countryor we’ve received or made a money transfer through a funding/banking site that’s in their country and because we live in the US and we aren’t licensed in their country to have an online account or transfer money we are now subject to prosecution. Think this is far fetched? Why? Sure, it may not trickle down to the little granny like me that plays poker on the internet, it may not trickle down to you either but what is to keep another country’s government from feeling indignantabout US actions – especially if some of the people arrested have a very valuable standing in said country’s government and/or are held in high esteem. Why is the US allowed to treat travelers this way and why would we not expect retaliation from another government in the same manner?

Here’s the wrinkle. Because the US is cracking down, is that going to stop internet poker play? NO! Because one money transfer site closes, does that mean another one won’t open or they won’t figure out a way to fund an online account? NO! Is playing poker or gambling on the internet one of those horrible disgusting crimes that we should be punished for? NO! Gambling is not going to stop. If you don’t believe it, you need to read the history of gambling in Roll the Bones. Why isn’t the US smart enough to set up and license servers, make sure everything’s done legitimately, and collect taxes from gambling that is conducted in the US? Why not take care of our own people and upgrade our countries system through taxes gleaned from regulated internet gambling? Why are we allowing billions of dollars to escape our borders when we could harness the industry ourselves?

This isn’t my first primal scream about government regulation of the internet and the right to play poker and it’s not going to be my last. For a glimpse of the UIGEA from Nolan Dalla’s viewpoint, check this article. Another peek at the ugly side of control. Visit the Poker Player Alliance for more views and help on what you should do to keep poker on our home computers.

Tomorrow you may have to log in to your local ISP and only be allowed to visit sites that the government feels are safe for you to visit. *freshbarf bag please – this one’s full*