UIGEA on trial: iMEGA to take on US egaming ban in PA court next month 24/06/2009
Jon Parker
A legal challenge to declare America’s Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) unconstitutional by US lobby group the Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA) will be heard in court on 7 July, the US authorities have confirmed.
Oral arguments from lawyers representing iMEGA and the US Department of Justice (DoJ) will be heard by the US 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals at the US Courthouse in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
iMEGA chairman Joe Brennan said “This law will finally have to stand on its own two feet in court, free from politics and all other outside influences. We feel very confident that when the judges take a look at the law, they will see just how defective it is and will overturn it.”
The three-judge panel that will decide the case was also announced: Judge Dolores Korman Sloviter, appointed under president Jimmy Carter; Thomas Ambro, a Clinton appointee; and Judge Kent Jordan, a George W. Bush appointee.
Defendants the DoJ, Federal Trade Commission and Federal Reserve will be represented by Nicholas Bagley and Jacqueline Coleman of the US DoJ’s civil division in Washington, DC.
iMEGA will be represented by New Jersey lawyer Eric Bernstein of Eric M. Bernsein and Associates, and Stephen Saltzburg, a professor at George Washington University school of law.
In a separate development on the legality of America’s gaming laws, the European Union (EU) recently
urged the US to begin talks on ending the US’s protectionist ban on foreign egaming companies, which the EU says are in breach of World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, making the EU liable for compensation.
Barney Frank, the US congressman behind a bill to overturn UIGEA,
described the EU's call for talks as “further argument for repealing the law which currently restricts the personal freedom of American adults to gamble online.”
As reported on
EGRmagazine.com, in a recent crackdown on egaming the US authorities ordered several US banks to
freeze payment accounts for sites including Full Tilt and PokerStars.
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Posted: 24/06/2009
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