Saturday, October 28, 2006

The voices talking so loudly against the Unlawful Internet Gambling
Enforcement Act (UIGEA) on forums and blogs across are the internet will be
leaving their keyboards on November 3-4 and will be headed to Washington
D.C. to protest the latest US prohibition. The purpose of the demonstration
will be to gain press coverage from major news organizations such as Fox,
MSNBC, and CNN (who have all promised to attend the event) in order to get
the message out to the general public before they vote. The message they
are trying to get out to voters is that Republicans, led by the soon to be
parting Senator Bill Frist, have begun a modern day prohibition by
deceitfully attaching the ban to an unrelated piece of legislation on the
last day of senate sessions. The fact that they attached the bill to
unrelated legislation about Port Security, an issue that was impossible for
anyone to vote against, angered other politicians about as much as it
angered the 25 million American citizens who participate in online poker.
"What could be a greater invasion of privacy than government telling you
cannot play Internet poker in your own house?" congresswoman Shelley Berkley
said. "This was a breathtaking abuse ... of power." "The ban on Internet
gaming was part of the Republican family values agenda. They passed it to
pound their chests and talk about how they're protecting America's youth,"
Berkley said. "You got a bunch of ideologues running Congress. They're not
interested in anything that has a modicum of common sense; they're only
interested in a very narrow moral position."

Berkley insisted that the protest expressing dissent will surely be heard by
politicians and other Americans before voting time.

Debbie Richardson, the person instrumental in organizing the protest against
the ban, has reported to us that over 250 people have confirmed they will be
attending and that many singular people said they will be bringing groups
along with them.

Poker (for chips only) will be played in the streets as part of the protest.
There have been rumors that celebrities who support poker may show up, and
other speakers are confirmed.

"We think we have enough people who confirmed showing up for the event that
could fill up the square behind the White House," and that many people,
Richardson explained, will get noticed by the press.

"The more people show up for the protest the more interest the press will
show," Richardson said. She also expects a large number of people to attend
who have not confirmed.