The agenda for the next meeting of the National Gambling Impact Study
Commission is beginning to take shape. The Commission is scheduled to
meet in Chicago on May 20 and 21, and thus far two panels of note are
being organized, each of which deals with Internet gambling.
The first panel will highlight the idea of regulating versus prohibiting
Internet gaming. It’s tentatively listing as invited witnesses:
Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, one of the sponsors of the Internet Gambling
Prohibition Act; Virginia Rep. Bob Goodlatte, a sponsor of the House
Internet gaming legislation; several state attorneys general; Sue Schneider, editor of Interactive
Gaming News, as well as a representative of the Internet
gaming industry's trade organization, the Interactive Gaming Council;
and a witness from the Cato Institute, presumably Tom Bell, who has
written on the topic of Internet gaming.
The second panel will cover the topic of enforcement. Witnesses
scheduled include: Anthony Cabot, an attorney with the Nevada law firm
of Lionel, Sawyer & Collins and author/editor of a book entitled "The
Internet Gambling Report"; Frank Miller, past president of the National
Association of Gaming Regulators; Dr. Joseph Kelly, an associate
professor of business at the State University of New York at Buffalo;
and a representative of the Australian Federal Gaming Commission who
will no doubt outline the proactive steps being taken in that country to
put in place a regulatory structure for Internet gaming.
At this point pari-mutuel interests as they relate to the use of the
Internet are scheduled to be part of a July meeting of the Commission
in Del Mar, California.