AGA Signals Support for Online Gambling

The CEO of the American Gaming Association has indicated a positive shift from the land casino trade body's usually neutral stance on online gambling.

Frank Fahrenkopf said in an interview with online publication Card Player, which was published last week, that the organization was "open to the concept of legalized Internet gambling, so long as there is a regulatory regime put in place that protects the consumer and protects the integrity of the game."

The comment signals a shift amongst the land-based gambling community toward accepting the presence of the online gaming market, at the same time as pro-online gambling advocates attempt to push bills led by Congressman Barney Frank to repeal the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which effectively banned Internet gambling in the United States.

Fahrenkopf went on to say in the interview that his organization was open to the question of whether online gambling would be regulated by the federal government or by the states, although he added that there was a fear in the industry that the deferral government could start taxing everything if it had control.