IMEGA Files Brief to Support Dismissal of UIGE ActHearing Is Set for Sept. 4 |
|
Liberty protects the person from unwarranted government intrusions into a dwelling or other private places. In our tradition the State is not omnipresent in the home. And there are other spheres of our lives and existence, outside the home, where the State should not be a dominant presence. Freedom extends beyond special bounds.
- Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy (taken from iMEGA's legal brief)
A new nonprofit organization that was formed to represent online gambling and media firms has filed a brief in the United States District Court in New Jersey in support of its case it filed against Attorney General Alberto Gonzales last month to stop the Unlawful Internet gambling Enforcement Act (UIGE Act) from being implemented.
"What we hope to accomplish is to allow the public at large to carry out a fundamental right, which is the ability to engage in Internet gambling of all sorts," said Eric Bernstein, iMEGA's lead attorney on this case.
The case seeks a judgment to restrain the U.S. from enforcing the UIGE Act, which makes it a crime for banks and financial institutions to process transactions for online poker and gambling sites.
The hearing date for this case is Sept. 4.
The brief filed in support of iMEGA's case uses several points to support its case. Within those points are examples of several cases that purportedly back up iMEGA's case.
IMEGA's arguments claim that the UIGE Act unconstitutionally restricts gambling on the Internet as a form of consensual private conduct, the UIGE Act's selected prohibitions do not constitute the least restrictive means to regulate online gambling, the UIGE Act is inconsistent with both state laws and international treaties, and the Act hurts iMEGA members.
The 270 days that government agencies had to figure out how to enforce the UIGE Act expired this week. No word has come from the offices of the Treasury, which is responsible for enforcing the act, on how the act will be enforced. IMEGA filed the brief in conjunction with the deadline.
Visit iMEGA's webpage (imega.org) to read the brief and also to read about the pending case.
Copyright © 2001-2024
CardPlayer.com. All rights reserved.
