SAFE Port Act

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The Security and Accountability For Every Port Act of 2006 (or SAFE Port Act, Pub.L. 109-347[1]) is an Act of Congress in the United States that covers security of ports and online gambling.

Title VIII of the Act is also known as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. This title (found at 31 U.S.C. ยง 5361-5367) prohibits the transfer of funds from a financial institution to an Internet gambling site, with the notable exceptions of "fantasy" sports, online lotteries, and horse/harness racing.

Contents

[edit] Legislative history

The Act was passed at midnight on the day Congress adjourned for the 2006 elections. Though a bill with the gambling wording was previously debated and passed by the House of Representatives,[2][3][4] the SAFE Port Act (H.R. 4954) as passed by the House on May 4th (by a vote of 421-2) and the U.S. Senate on September 14th (98-0),[5] bore no traces of the Unlawful Internet Gambling and Enforcement Act that was included in the SAFE Port Act signed into law by George W. Bush on October 13th, 2006.[6] The UIGEA was added in Conference Report 109-711 (submitted at 9:29pm on September 29, 2006), which was passed by the House by a vote of 409-2 and by the Senate by unanimous consent on September 30, 2006. Due to H. Res. 1064, the reading of this conference report was waived.

Among the more prominent Congressional supporters of the Act were Jim Leach, a former chairman of the House Banking Committee and Rep. Robert Goodlatte [R-VA], who co-authored H.R. 4411 (the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act). Bill Frist, majority leader of the Senate, and Jon Kyl are both credited with expediting the UIGEA's passage through the Senate. Though the SAFE Port Act's provisions related to Internet gambling were drawn exclusively from H.R. 4411, significant portions were removed, including text relating to the Federal Wire Act.[7]

A prior version of the gambling part of the bill passed the House in 1999 but failed in the Senate in part due to the influence of lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

[edit] Port security provisions

The SAFE Port Act implemented a number of programs to improve security of U.S. ports. In addition, it created a Domestic Nuclear Detection Office within the Department of Homeland Security and appropriated funds toward the Integrated Deepwater Program, a long-term Coast Guard modernization program.[8]

[edit] Responses from online gambling sites

All online gambling sites listed on the London Stock Exchange or similar markets have stopped taking United States players due to the passage of the Act, while most non-public companies have announced an intention to continue taking US customers.

Prominent Internet gambling sites that have announced intentions to continue taking U.S. customers include Absolute Poker, Bodog, Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars and Ultimate Bet.

Prominent Internet gambling sites that have stopped accepting or have closed to U.S. customers include Pacific Poker, Paradise Poker, PartyPoker, Hollywood Poker, Doyle's Room and PokerRoom.

[edit] WTO dispute

This section documents a current event.
Information may change rapidly as the event progresses.

In the latest action in a World Trade Organization dispute between Antigua and the United States, the WTO ruled on January 25, 2007 that the U.S. is in violation of its treaty obligations by not granting full market access to online gambling companies based in the island nation.[9]

On March 30 the WTO confirmed the U.S. loss in the case.[10]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Text of the SAFE Port Act, via House.gov
  2. ^ Transcript of the April 5th hearing
  3. ^ Transcript of July 11th floor speeches on H.R. 4411 - the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act
  4. ^ H.R. 4411 vote record
  5. ^ H.R. 4954 vote record
  6. ^ Nelson Rose: The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 Analyzed
  7. ^ CRS Report for Congress, 10-2-06
  8. ^ Congressional Budget Office analysis of H.R. 4954, prepared April 28, 2006
  9. ^ WTO rules against US in online gambling case
  10. ^ Reuters: WTO confirms U.S. loss in Internet gambling case

[edit] External links

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