The implementation date for UIGEA has been pushed back 6 months to June 1 2010 from its originally planned 1 December 2009 deadline.
Back in October a number of high profile political figures requested that UIGEA's implementation be delayed and their wish has been granted. Today Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke rubber stamped the delay giving banks a reprieve in having to identify and block online gambling related payments .
The financial services sector have long been complaining that the law will impose an undue burden on their systems. The Chamber of Commerce and Financial Services have publicly stated that UIGEA's implementation is 'ambiguous, burdensome and unlikely to stop Americans from gambling online'.
The operative provisions of UIGEA leave the task of identifying and blocking transactions related to 'unlawful internet gambling' to banks and payment processors, but they feel neither qualified nor administratively capable of effectively doing this. And this is largely because the Act doesn't actually define what 'unlawful internet gambling' - a task left to the banks despite the fact that legal experts still debate what is and what isn't illegal online gambling.
The delay is seen by some as a recognition by Obama Administration power brokers that a workable alternative to UIGEA could be welcomed. It certainly offers more time for Barney Frank and his push to repeal the current law and replace it with the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act. This Act proposes to regulated the industry, and combined with Rep. Jim McDermott's (H.R. 2268), provide an estimated $40 billion in tax revenue for the government over the next decade.
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