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Here is a copy of the speech given by Spencer Bachus on 3 December 2009 at the hearing of Bill HR2267 at the House Financial Services Committee:
As all of us know Chairman Frank and I have very different views on this and we approach this very differently. He wants to legalise internet gambling and then he wants to tax it. On the other hand, I believe that internet gambling is and has been and will continue to be, a substantial threat to our youth and that any economic benefit from taxing internet gambling would be more than offset by the harm that it causes our young people and we have had hearing after hearing where experts demonstrated or testified to really what we have is a wave of young Americans who are addicted to gambling and the problems which that causes which are in many cases heartbreaking.

We recently reported on the Bwin / Portuguese Professional Football League’s case against Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa in the European Court of Justice. You will remember that the result of the case wasn’t exactly an optimistic one for the online gaming industry in Europe, with the ECJ throwing the case out of court. We also wrote a lengthy article on the implications of the ECJ’s reaction to the case for the online gaming industry within Europe, which you can read here. Despite this doom and gloom coming from the European legal hub, this summer has brought good news to the online gaming industry within individual member states of the European Union.

The European Court of Justice last month made a ruling on the case brought by the joint forces of Gibraltar-baseed Austrian online gambling company bwin and the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (Portuguese Professional Football League - henceforth referred to as the ‘LPFP’) against the state betting monopoly, Departamento de Jogos da Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa. On 8th September, the ECJ rejected the case stating that “a member state could be allowed to ban gambling websites if its intention was to stop crime”.

This case has great significance for the future of the online gambling industry within Europe, which has been turning to the Free Trade Agreements of the European Community over the past few years in order to try to maintain its legal foothold within the various 27 member countries of the EU. In this article we will look back over the clash between the three companies, analyse the ECJ’s rulings and actions and look at the impact that these actions will have on the online gambling industry within Europe and what it might mean for its future.

Choosing where to play internet slot machines can be overwhelming for new players. This article gives you a summary of where, and how, to play the best internet slot machines.

A number of online casinos offer free versions of their slots games in order to give players some indication of what it is like to play at an online casino. There are a number of free pokies online available to players and this article offers a guide as to how and where to play these games.

The online gaming industry is still in its infancy, having only been in existence for around 15 years. Here are a few notable global historic markers which have led us to where we are today with regards to online gaming as a whole;