When the U.S. government wants to jam a potentially unpopular law down the throats of the American people without attracting too much public attention, they quietly slip it into an immensely popular bill that is guaranteed to be signed into law because of that popularity.

That’s exactly what happened during the final hours of the 2006 Congressional session when the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was tacked onto the Safe Port Act as a last ditch attempt to get this legislation approved. By piggybacking the unrelated and controversial Act onto proposed legislation that was expected to pass swiftly through Congress, it suddenly became illegal for companies operating online gambling web sites to accept funds transferred from financial institutions in the US.

And that created a serious economic impact among the online gambling industry while simultaneously eroding yet one more American freedom that the people never saw coming.

The Government Hates What The Government Can’t Tax

Those backing the UIGEA claim that it is a major first step towards curbing the growing problems that so many of those involved with online gambling are facing. Among the biggest include problems of gambling addiction and of deepening financial crises. Yes, it’s comforting to see the government go to such drastic steps to protect its citizens from themselves.

But if the government is so concerned about the well-being of its citizens, why is it still possible to place online paramutual bets, and why do some States allow their citizens to participate in their online lottery games and horse betting? The answer is “money.” State and federal coffers fill up quickly with money from the activities and there are powerful lobbyists who work tirelessly to ensure that these “rights of free expression” do not get wiped out by a handful of “well-meaning” legislators.

Make no mistake about it, the gambling industry has its powerful lobbyists as well, and most of them represent land-based U.S. casinos that used to be under tremendous financial pressure from the offshore gambling industry’s ability to dip into traditional casino revenue through the use of online gaming sites. Now that threat has been erased and U.S. land-based casinos are happy. U.S. citizens can still indulge their “gambling addiction” and further advance their “deepening financial crises” but they have to drive to their local casino to get the job done.

Many people fear that the UIGEA is nothing more than a major first attempt by the U.S. Government to censor the Internet.

There is a disturbing trend in a number of countries to restrict the free flow of information that comes with granting their citizens unrestricted Internet access. Some wonder whether the UIGEA was another step in that direction here in the United States.

U.S. censorship of the Internet began with the Communications Decency Act (CDA) which “prohibits Internet users from using the Internet to communicate material that, under contemporary community standards, would be deemed patently offensive to minors under the age of eighteen.”

Censorship was furthered by the enactment of the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) which seeks to strengthen the CDA by restricting “communications that are made for commercial purposes on the World Wide Web.” Its purpose is to protect minors from accessing "material harmful to minors."

Few, if any, decent and law-biding citizen had any objection to a pair of laws designed to keep easily-accessed pornography away from minors, but the government learned a valuable lesson in the process. If online access is censored in a series of small steps, the people will not notice that their rights of free speech are being taken away at the same time.

U.S. soldiers who operate personal blogs, often called “milbloggers” were the latest group to feel the sting of the Government’s Internet censorship push when they were handed this recent military decree from the U.S. Department of Defense:

“Effective immediately, no information may be placed on websites that are readily accessible to the public unless it has been reviewed for security concerns and approved in accordance with Deputy Secretary of Defense Memorandum web site policies and procedures."

And what does it say about Internet censorship when the Government seeks federal court enforcement of an order requiring Google to provide the government with records of what its users search for?

Many countries around the world have decided to use a different approach with online gaming and the UK Government has recently legalized online gambling and is currently collecting tax revenue and regulating the industry. US players looking to find out more information about the current legal landscape should visit USA Internet Gambling which is dedicated to US legislation and keeping US players up to date on internt gambling.