White House Petition Asks President to Veto Online Gambling Ban

A week after members of Congress debated a bill that would forbid states from legalizing online gambling, the Poker Players Alliance have issued a petition asking the White House to veto the measure. In order to receive a response from the White House the petition must receive 100,000 signatures by May 2. 

Despite having legal and effectively regulated online gambling in America for more than two years, some in Congress insist that allowing states to legalize and regulate the activity is too dangerous for America. Supporters of the woefully mistitled Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA, H.R. 707) claim it would “restore” a law from the 1960s that supposedly banned Internet gambling (despite there being no Internet at the time), protect states’ rights, and protect vulnerable individuals from predatory gambling. In reality, RAWA would do the opposite: it rewrites the law altering it in a way the authors never intended, it would outlaw the online gambling sites regulated by the states, pushing people back into the black market, and it violates the right of states, which have proven to be perfectly capable of regulating online gambling.

Worst of all, if RAWA is enacted it would set a disturbing precedent whereby federal lawmakers could outlaw a wholly intrastate online activity simply because they have a moral objection, don’t believe states are capable of regulating it, or want to do a favor for a top donor—as is the case with RAWA which curiously exempts the kinds of mobile gambling that casino owner and top GOP donor Sheldon Adelson gets money from while prohibiting his competition.

Today it’s about online gambling, but tomorrow it may be about online wine sales, adult entertainment, or even online sales of “unhealthy” foods.

Please help us protect Internet freedom and your individual liberty.

Sign the petition and spread the word.