Panel OKs Bill Limiting Internet Gambling

A House committee approved a watered-down version of legislation designed to limit the use of credit cards, checks, debit cards and electronic fund transfers for Internet gambling. The original bill before the House Banking Committee would have banned the use of financial instruments in all Internet gambling, but the final version, approved on a voice vote, would only apply to illegal Internet gambling. Approval came only after the panel adopted an amendment by Rep. John Sweeney (R-N.Y.), that limited the bill’s scope to gambling that is illegal under federal or state law in the state where the bet is placed. Sweeney said the original bill would have decimated the horse racing industry and would have preempted state laws that allow the Internet to be used for simulcast betting. Representatives of the banking and credit card industries said they had no objection to the bill.