Response to 60 Minutes Gambling Coverage

"The 60 Minutes and Washington Post stories demonstrate unambiguously that the existing government prohibition on Internet gambling is a failure and a mistake," says Jeffrey Sandman, spokesperson for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative in an official statement.

The recent coverage on CBS News flagship news program 60 Minutes and in The Washington Post on the state of online gambling in the US, where the market is left unregulated and the players left unprotected, has drawn some comments in the industry.

Plenty to gain
"It is clear that a different approach is necessary to protect consumers," said Sandman. He then mentioned another reason the market should be regulated, invoking "the billions of tax dollars currently lost to offshore gambling operators and out of the US economy."

The Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative is a supporter of the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act of 2007, introduced by Rep. Barney Frank.

Sandman regrets that the consumer protections and other safeguards, addressed in the IGREA bill, were left out of the 60 Minutes article.