iMEGA v UIGEA to be heard

Lawyers representing the United States government agencies met the deadline to file a brief outlining why the case brought against the Justice Department that is challenging the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) should be required to be thrown out.

iMEGA, an organization that consists of online gambling operators and the various companies that support them, filed a suit against the Department of Justice (DoJ), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Federal Reserve that, if it wins, would overturn the UIGEA.

The U.S. Department of Justice had until Friday, September 21, to file a brief to counter iMEGA’s request for a temporary restraining order against the UIGEA. Federal Judge Mary Cooper of the New Jersey District Court, in Trenton, will hear verbal arguments on the case on Wednesday, the 26th.

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act became law on October 13th, 2006, designed to prevent US Citizens from becoming customers to online poker sites, and gambling casinos. The effective measure follows through targeting the financial institutions, and preventing them from moving the money between accounts on the site and personal accounts.

The law created incredible fiscal damage to the companies associated with the iMEGA. Regulations associated with the bill are still being drafted by the various government agencies involved to affect enforcement, a deadline pertaining to the enforcement passed over the summer. A number of publicly traded sites left the US market when the law was passed, this caused significant injury to both US based and non US based companies.  

This removed billions from the profit margin of companies involved, like PartyPoker, but also stopped billions of dollars from being traded on the London Stock Exchange.

The iMEGA sought to overturn the UIGEA by filing a case against the government and the aforementioned agencies in June of 2007. It is the endeavor to see the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act declared unconstitutional.