House passes Net-gambling bill

This week's vote in the US House of Representatives was 317 for legislation aimed at restraining online gambling and 93 against, the Washington Post reports. The bill's supporters reportedly say it might help dampen a booming, mostly off-shore business that "provides a front for money laundering, some of it by drug sellers and terrorist groups, while preying on children and gambling addicts. Americans bet an estimated $6 billion per year online, accounting for half the worldwide market," the Post reports, citing Congressional Research Service data. Critics say it "overreaches" and would be tough to enforce. Its two key provisions, according to the Post: "to update the 1961 Wire Act, which bars gambling entities from using wire-based communications for transmitting bets, to include the Internet," and to slow the flow of money from players to sites by barring electronic payments like credit card transactions.