Delegates at the G2E conference in Las Vegas this week were treated to a vociferous attack on Congress’s decision to approve the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. The new law was signed into effect by President George Bush last month, making it illegal for credit card firms and other financial institutions, including online banks, to process payments destined for online gambling firms. According to Terry Lanni, MGM’s chief executive, the new law “makes no sense whatsoever.”

Lanni went on to tell the Las Vegas audience that he is hopeful the Democrats new position in the U.S. Congress will create a more sympathetic attitude toward the gambling industry. “The Republican Party pandered to the religious right,” Lanni said, pointing out that the legislation was attached to a non-related bill by Tennessee Senator Bill Frist and was subsequently raced through Congress without serious debate.

Lanni also said that MGM is in favor of a full study into online gambling and believes Congress should commission one before taking any further action against the industry. His call for regulating gambling in the U.S. was echoed by UK Gaming Commission head, Peter Dean, who addressed the conference after Lanni. “Britain wants to be second to none in the regulation of Internet gambling ...We firmly believe that the way forward is to regulate, rather than prohibit,” Dean told a supportive crowd. He went on to say that he finds the U.S. decision to ban online gambling remarkable, given that “prohibition doesn't have a conspicuous record of success in this country ... the obvious result is that the activity is going to be driven underground.”

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