On Friday 13th October, George Bush signed the safe port act into law. Smuggled in at the back of this security measure was the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which, while not making it illegal, made it harder, near impossible in fact for banks to transfer funds to payment processors if the money was to be used for online gaming.
The law will attempt to halt the millions of players in the US from playing for cash by requiring that financial institutions monitor and block funding of gambling accounts and will put online companies in line for prosecution if they accept cash from US citizens and don't block American ISP addresses. Policies and procedures will be established by the Federal Reserve Board within 270 days of Bush signing but major sites have already started to pull out.
Some publicly listed companies have "mucked their hands" so to speak for fear of prosecution and because of their responsibilities to shareholders and the city. These include: Party Poker, 888, Boss media network, Paradise Poker and Cryptologic network.
Some operators are being extremely bullish about the situation. Initially there were fears of a blanket fold from all the major operators, but now the dust has settled several big sites have declared its intention as 'business as usual'. Therefore, they will continue to operate in the hope of a carve-out in the near future. Those staying include: Full Tilt, PokerStars, Mansion, Doyle's Room, Bodog, Full Contact Poker and UltimateBet.

A BREAKDOWN OF THE BAN:

Sep 2006
Senators piggyback the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act onto a Bill concerning national security, making a mockery of the American 'Democratic' process.
Oct 2006
New law prevents money-men from handling cash between US players and poker sites prompting several large operators to pull out of the lucrative but illegal US market. Others state their intention to stay in the US.
As of late 2006
Online sites and players lobby government for a poker "carve-out" to allow poker to be played.

With election year just round the corner there are too many players too accept the situation lying down. Politicians, mainly demorcrats, have already started a petition for a carve-out, which aims to exclude poker from the wider definition of 'Gambling'.
Others think this is merely the first step in paving the way for the US to introduce new regulations, which could see operators being accepted on US soil.

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