INDIANA: Senate committee OKs measure making promotion of online gambling a felony

[clevfan]

Panel approves bill that targets Internet gaming

Senate committee OKs measure making promotion of online gambling a felony.



By Kristina Buchthal

indystar.com

January 14, 2003

A bill that would make it a felony to promote illegal Internet gambling was approved Monday by the Senate's Economic Development and Technology Committee.

The bill, proposed by Sen. David Ford, R-Hartford City, would not ramp up penalties for Internet gambling, which includes betting on college basketball games or playing online slot machines. Such offenses already are a class B misdemeanor.

Instead, it aims to curb promotion of the practice, targeting radio advertisers and Internet pop-up adds that urge people to gamble online.

"You can play in the middle of the night, you can max out everything you have and there's no way to regulate it," said Ford, chairman of the committee. "I know enforcement may be difficult, but I think it's an effort we need to make."

Those who promote Internet gambling would be subject to a Class D felony conviction under the bill. Enforcement would fall to local prosecutors.

Ford played for the committee a radio commercial that urged Indiana listeners to log on to their Web site to run their own online casino.

"Casinos are like banks, all they do is make money!" the commercial blared. "Now you can tap into that money using your home computer."

The bill will now move to the Senate. Last year the Senate passed a similar bill, but it died in the House of Representatives.

The bill was supported Monday by the Indiana Coalition Against Legalized Gambling and the American Family Association of Indiana.

Members of the Senate committee questioned law enforcement's ability to regulate Internet gambling, but passed the bill 10-0.

"We can't go after someone who watches pornography in their homes, but we are going to go after someone betting on football games?" said Sen. Frank Mrvan, D-Hammond.