Republican Rep. Fights Minnesota's Attempt to Ban Poker SitesRepresentative Pat Garofalo's Bill Would Halt Government Order |
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Not so fast.
A Republican in the Minnesota state legislature introduced a bill yesterday that would prevent the state from carrying out its plan to ban access to approximately 200 gambling sites.
“I have some serious concerns about the government censoring web sites,” said Rep. Pat Garofalo, who has served in the legislature since 2004. “And of course, one has to be concerned that this is the casino industry trying to use the heavy hand of government to discourage online gaming.”
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety, specifically the state’s Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division, issued an order last week to 11 national and regional Internet service providers to block access to nearly 200 online gaming sites for all Minnesota-based computers.
Several poker sites — including Full Tilt, Bodog, and a number of poker sites that no longer accept American customers — were on the list.
The vast majority of the Internet service providers — which include Verizon, AT&T, Comcast, Direct TV, and Sprint/Nextel, among others — have not yet responded to the state order, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune. Several legal analysts are skeptical of the companies willingness to follow the order, because they might not want to start a precedence of adjusting their service state-by-state.
“This is not the proper function of government,” said Garofalo, who identifies himself as a winning online poker player. “I don’t even know if it’s Constitutional.”
John Willems, the director of the state’s Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division that issued the original order, expressed disappointment with the introduction of the bill.
“It reflects a 180-degree turn from the current enforcement efforts towards illegal online gambling, particularly those that are being currently undertaken,” Willems told the Star Tribune.
Willems has claimed that since there isn’t a law that authorizes online gaming, it is therefore illegal. The director is using a 1961 federal law — U.S. Code, Title 18, Section 1084 — to support his most recent actions.
The Poker Players Alliance, poker’s largest advocacy group, immediately condemned the order.
“The fact is, online poker is not illegal, it’s not criminal, and it cannot be forcibly blocked by a state authority looking to score some political points,” said PPA’s Minnesota state director, Matt Werden.
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), often cited as the law that severely hampered the poker industry, does not criminalize online poker. Rather, it makes it illegal for banks and payment processors to transfer funds to online casinos, and vice versa.
With less than two weeks remaining in the legislative session, Garofalo is planning on bypassing the standard committee process for a bill, hoping to instead tack it on as an amendment to another bill.
He told Card Player that he wouldn't be surprised to see some consequences for his actions.
“I can kind of see the storm clouds gathering. There are going to be some people coming after me,” said Garofalo. “But I don’t care. It’s the right thing to do, and I’m willing to live with the results.”
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