Only one week after a historic US election which resulted in Obama’s win and the recent WSOP 2008 winner celebrations the current Bush Administration is rushing to finalize several last minute “midnight rules” before they depart the oval office. The old Bush administration has once again targeted the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act), using the same old sneak tactics similar to the original UIGEA legislation drafted in 2006, once again the reckless rule making is in effect as the ousted party are planning a last minute effort to make poker illegal in the USA by declaring online poker illegal by preventing US banks from processing any transactions from any online poker sites. If you are a US citizen, this is your chance to protect your freedom of choice and rights before this law is passed into effect forever leaving the new Obama administration no access to change the law.
Join the Poker Players Alliance, a group dedicated to Poker’s survival in the US.
British based, global online payment processor NETeller Plc announced on Thursday that they are planning a name change for all their brands which include NETELLER, NETBANX and Net+. The new name is set to be NEOVIA Financial Plc and will be effective on 17 November 2008. The word NEOVIA is supposedly derived from the words “New Way”.
The name change is part of a strategically important evolution in re-branding the plan is to differentiate it from their current operating brands with the intent of loosing it’s poor reputation with online gaming while expanding beyond their current markets.
Barney Frank’s Payments System Protection Act has been voted through by the Financial Services Committee with 30 – 19 votes in favor of the bill. Great news for US players as this is a step forward for online poker to be legal, unless it is forbidden by state law like it is in Washington.
The bill was written to ensure that UIGEA regulations would not effect the bank systems or financial industry in the USA.
The European Union (EU) plans to resume trade talks with the U.S. Trade Representative Office over its US Department of Justice prosecutes online gaming firms and officials related to gambling, the UIGEA and other matters that have since developed. The discussions were initiated by repeated complaints from the European based Remote Gambling Association, whom represents several top European internet gambling interests, including PartyGaming owner of the popular poker room PartyPoker and more recently PartyCasino.
