Four Republican lawmakers are calling for the Federal Reserve Board and the US Department of Treasury to clarify their proposed regulations concerning the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act, the horribly written law that the fascist Frist and his cronies Pearl Harbor’d into the Port Security Bill almost two years ago.

The four Representatives, who include Jim Gerlach
(R-PA), Christopher Shays (R-CT), Kevin McCarthy and Judy Biggert (R-IL), a woman, are asking for the agencies to clarify what constitutes "unlawful internet gambling" before finalizing their UIGEA regulations.

In what looks like a veiled reference to a distinction between online poker and other forms of online gaming*, the four argue that the "regulations do not provide clear guidance to the public, in particular those that engage in online skill games, or regulated industries regarding what constitutes ‘unlawful internet gambling.’" (emphasis added)

They go on to say that if implemented, the regs would amount to "an abdication of the federal government’s responsibility to both the public and unregulated industries" and  "could be unnecessarily burdensome and costly to the public and particularly small businesses."

Read the full letter they sent to the Board and Treasury Dept after the jump. Discuss it here.

Watch Rep. Benjamin Sinclair’s eloquently forceful argument before Congress in support of the Ocular Penetration Act of 2007 here.

Photo of Dutch model Chelina Manuhutu in lieu of one of the four lawmakers and to pretty up this website after posting a topless photo of Barry Paskin yesterday. More photos here.

*UPDATE: We were half-asleep and wearing our rose-colored glasses when writing this post and Kid Dynamite is right in his comment (here). These four lawmakers  are known to be against online poker, so it’s safe to assume that they’d want the Board and the Treasury to include online poker under unlawful internet gambling. It’s worth noting that one of the letter’s authors is Christopher Shay, who cosponsored the infamous H.R. 4411, aka the Goodlatte-Leach Bill and who PPA board member Rich Muny gave an F- on support of poker rights.

Tagged as: poker, UIGEA

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