You may recall that anti-gaming legislation was slipped into the Port Security bill by the previous Congress, after failing to get it snuck into the Defense bill. Democratic representative Shelley Berkley had a few choice words about it:
"This section was added to the bill in an attempt to fire up the far-right anti-gaming elements of the Republican party in time for this year's election [2006]," she said on the House floor.
But even before the provisions required by this law became effective, further steps were taken to deny Americans the freedom to engage in internet-gaming.
Februrary 8th, CNN:
LONDON (Reuters) -- British payment processor NETeller said Thursday U.S. prosecutors had seized funds, stopping U.S. customers from accessing their money, the latest move in an online gaming sting.
NETeller, which quit the United States last month after authorities arrested its two founders, said it was cooperating with an investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office (USAO) for the Southern District of New York.
"The amount of funds seized by the USAO or otherwise restricted by third parties does not exceed $55 million," said NETeller, which abandoned 65 percent of its business by quitting the United States.
The result has been that Americans are being denied access to their funds, including Poker Pro Isaac Haxton. Haxton won second place in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure tournament, winning an $800,000 prize. He transferred his money to Neteller, and hasn't been able to get it out since. He describes the situation:
Now that Democrats have re-taken Congress, can we repeal the absurd anti-gaming laws shoved down our throats by the 109th, and put a stop to the harassment of foreign companies which dare to offer their perfectly legal services to Americans?
UPDATE I:
It's also worth mentioning that the United States has been violating WTO obligations in it war on internet-gaming:
"This is just another step in our ongoing efforts to ensure that the United States complies with its obligations under WTO agreements and implement the rulings and recommendations of the DSB," said Antigua and Barbuda's Minister of Finance and the Economy, Dr Errol Cort.
"We believe that, notwithstanding the size of its economy, every WTO member has an obligation to play by the rules and accept and implement the outcomes of an established judicial process all members agreed to for resolving their trade disputes," he added.