Online gambling

After the 270 day period is up and the United States implements new laws that will prohibit banks from accepting transitions to known Internet gambling banks across the world (like Neteller) expect the bad reputations and stereotypes of gambling (cheating, malfunctioning software, non-payments of winnings, bad customer service, low payout rates on games, etc...) to come to fruition online.

After the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was passed the well respected publicly traded gambling sites left the US market. A few quality and respected casino companies, that use the Microgaming software, remain, such as Referback and Casino Profit Share, however they are not expected to last past the 270 day grace period.

Microgaming casinos already no longer accept bets from the 11 states in America that have specific laws against online gambling, however they do have a strong presence in the rest of the states. Once the 270 days are up and the US makes it more clear that gambling online is not allowed, expect Microgaming to force all the casinos that use its software out of the US market. Then, all that will be left will be Internet casinos based in third world islands, like Antigua and Curacao, where no regulations need to be met in order to operate.

The competition that once existed and worked as a form of regulation (competition - the best kind of regulation there is) will be gone. As a result of the less competition the casinos that will still exist online will lower their already dodgy standards. The US will have in effect allowed a monopoly to form, which will be run by the most unscrupulous people in an already dirty industry.

The affiliates who played a major role in promoting online casinos, who also once worked as a strong regulator for the industry, will either leave the business completely or promote the ill-run casinos alone because they will have no other option.

Perhaps it would have been better for the politicians who passed this bill to listen a to a few experts in the field rather than undermine the United States government in order to gain minority approval.

While the rest of the world liberates themselves and accepts newer growing technologies like the Internet, the United States prohibits its citizens from it and in a sense brings more harm to them, the exact opposite of their supposed intentions. This issue may not be very important to the regular American, but it is a microcosm of the entire United States government and the country needs some leaders to step up soon to change the direction of their world.