UNITED KINGDOM – As reported by the UK Guardian: "Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary, attacked the US government yesterday over its crackdown on online gambling and warned that the policy could become a modern-day version of prohibition.
"Ms Jowell spoke out against the new US anti-gambling laws signed earlier this month by George Bush, claiming that the legislation could fuel the kind of fraud and exploitation last seen during the prohibition era, when America banned the manufacture and sale of alcohol from 1920 to 1933.
"Speaking ahead of the first-ever international summit on remote gambling being held at Royal Ascot next Tuesday, Ms Jowell told the Financial Times: 'America should have learnt the lessons of prohibition.'
"The prohibitionist Republican legislation, rushed through by Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader, as part of the Safe Port Act, is designed to target banks and payment services that facilitate online wagering, and has prompted an exodus of companies from the US.
"…Ms Jowell wants to win international support for the government's approach of allowing online casino and poker sites, subject to legal control, rather than expelling them offshore and out of reach…"
Email this page
Print this page
Bookmark with del.icio.us
