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Assembly Bill 1229: An Act of Idiocy Which
Attacks Personal Freedoms & Privacy
By John Hill
If ever there was a reason to recall a representative of the people,
Californians need look no further than to State Assemblyman Dario
Frommer, Democrat, Los Angeles, author of a bill to outlaw Internet
gambling in the State of California. On April 5th 2001, representative
Frommer introduced an amendment to this bill, Sec 330d of the California
Penal Code, which would make it a crime for individuals in California
to participate in on-line gambling. God forbid that Californians
should have the temerity to game on the Internet. As far as Assemblyman
Frommer is concerned this disgusting practice is worth a $100 fine
each time you make a wager and $1000 fine and 90 days in jail to
the principals of the site that accepts your bet. And get this;
his proposed legislation is made in the name of the People Of California!
I'd be willing to bet (even in the face of a $100 fine) that he
didn't ask for your opinion before he introduced his legislation.
What is even more incredible is that he managed to convince the
other ten members of the Government Operations Committee to approve
his ill-conceived proposal by a margin of 11 to 0. Make no mistake,
if his proposal passes the Appropriations Committee and the Safety
Committee and manages to reach the Assembly floor all you gamers
are going to be in proverbial "deep doodoo!"
I can't imagine that any right thinking legislator would even consider
passing this bill, the repercussions would be so enormous. Not only
would it be unworkable and incredibly expensive; it would create
a morass of enforcement problems for the Attorney General, affecting
not only the taxpayers of California who would have to foot the
bill, but the various local authorities charged by law to enforce
the provisions. Hey, Golly Gee, lets go get those Internet Gamblers
and forget about those felons who are raping, killing, and robbing.
There are much more important things to do! Get them damn gamblers!
If I were a Californian, and a resident
of Los Angeles in Frommer's district, I'd demand that he be removed
and replaced by someone who has an iota of common sense. I don't
really know what his motives are; but I suspect that he has some
sort of personal antipathy towards those who understand that freedom
of choice and responsibility are matters of deep individual concern;
a concern which transcends his personal agenda.
Should Frommer's bill be enacted into law I can guarantee that there
will be an outcry that will find its way to the Supreme Court where,
hopefully, it would be relegated to the garbage heap on which it
belongs.
Consider this for a moment. How would
the regulators enforce their policies? Will they monitor your Internet
connections? Will they check on whom and where you happen to point
your mouse? The only conceivable way to enforce this absurdity is
to create another bureaucracy; the Cyber Police, employing thousand
of technicians hunched in front of their computers, tracking your
every move. Talk about your Big Brother! God help us if it ever
comes to that. One thing is certain, Californians, if you want to
preserve your freedom of choice you're going to have to dump the
likes of Dario Frommer and his ilk!
For those of you who are interested
and have the stomach for it, the following is the text of Frommer's
bill, complete with grammatical errors and pontification!
BILL NUMBER: AB 1229 AMENDED BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 5, 2001
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Frommer
FEBRUARY 23, 2001
An act to add Section 330d to the Penal Code, relating to
gambling.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1229, as amended, Frommer. Gambling:
prohibited online gambling games.
(1) Existing law prohibits, with the exception of specified games
conducted on Indian lands, banking or percentage games played with
cards, dice, or devices, including roulette, faro, and twenty-one,
lottery games, other than charitable bingo, raffles, and the games
of the California State Lottery, the operation, possession, sale
or control of slot machines, as defined, and sports wagering and
other forms of bookmaking and pool selling, other than licensed
parimutuel wagering on horse races, and provides that any person
who operates or bets at these prohibited gambling games is guilty
of a crime and is punishable by a misdemeanor or felony, as specified.
This bill would state findings and declarations of the Legislature
with regard to online gambling games, and would provide that it
is unlawful for any person to operate or bet against any prohibited
online gambling game, as defined, for money, checks, credit, or
any other representative of value. This bill would provide that
every person who operates or offers for play any prohibited online
gambling game to any person physically located in this state at
the time of the transaction, or who operates such a game from a
host server, as defined, that is physically located in this state
at the time of the transaction, is guilty of a misdemeanor and is
punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed 90 days,
a fine not to exceed $1,000 per transaction, as defined, or by both
that fine and imprisonment. By creating a new crime, this bill would
impose a state-mandated local program.
This bill would provide that every person or entity who aids and
abets another person who is physically located in this state to
play or bet at any prohibited online gambling game in violation
of this section is guilty of misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment
in a county jail not to exceed 90 days, a fine not to exceed $1,000
per violation, or by both that fine and imprisonment. This bill
would provide that these provisions shall not apply with respect
to advertisements that are not specifically directed towards this
state and which contain adequate disclosure of the illegality of
these games, nor to Internet service providers, web pages and search
engines, or other indexes, networks, or network equipment which
act as mere functional intermediaries between a patron and an online
gambling enterprise and which do not reasonably constitute an advertisement
or promotion of that enterprise. By creating a new crime, this bill
would impose a state-mandated local program.
This bill would provide that every person who plays or bets at or
against a prohibited online gambling game while physically located
within this state is guilty of an infraction punishable by a fine
not to exceed $100 per transaction. By creating a new crime, this
bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
This bill would also provide that notwithstanding any other provision
of law, the Attorney General is expressly authorized to enforce
these provisions, and in addition to bringing criminal actions shall
have the authority to file civil actions, issue cease and desist
letters, and take other actions as necessary to maximize compliance
with these provisions by online gambling enterprises, intermediaries,
and individual citizens of this state, and would specifically authorize
the Attorney General to review electronic, print, and other advertisements
of online gambling enterprises for accuracy, and demand that advertisements
appearing in this state disclose that these online games are illegal
in this state.
This bill would provide that the authority thereby provided to the
Attorney General shall not be construed to limit the authority of
a district attorney to enforce these provisions.
This bill would provide that its provisions are severable, and that
if any of its provisions or its applications are held invalid, that
invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that
can be given effect.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by
the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making
that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(1) Online gambling threatens the health, safety, and welfare of
the citizens of this state, because, unlike controlled gambling
conducted within licensed gambling establishments and tribal casinos,
online gambling is completely unregulated.
(2) The unregulated nature of online gambling enterprises, combined
with the fact that many online gambling providers are located beyond
the criminal jurisdiction of this state or of the United States,
poses an unacceptable risk of fraudulent business practices to patrons
of these establishments.
(3) Due to the anonymous nature of the Internet, online gambling
establishments are unable to accurately assess the age or identity
of online patrons, and thus these enterprises facilitate illegal
gambling by minors and other persons prohibited from engaging in
gambling.
(4) Online gambling enterprises routinely and incorrectly assert
that persons in this state can legally participate in online gambling
games, and thus these enterprises engage in false and misleading
advertising.
(5) Pursuant to the long-standing public policy of this state, as
interpreted by its courts, loses and debts from gambling generally
are not enforceable in California.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature
in enacting this act to remove any ambiguity as to the illegality
of online gambling in this state. It is also the intent of the Legislature
in enacting this act that financial institutions and other intermediaries
doing business in the State of California take notice that gambling
debts in general, and debts from illegal online gambling in particular,
may be unenforceable, and accordingly, these entities are encouraged
to take appropriate action to protect their legitimate business
interests.
SEC. 2. Section 330d is added to the Penal Code, to read:
330d. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and in addition
to the prohibitions and limitations on gambling contained in this
chapter and in Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 319), it is unlawful
for any person to operate or bet at or against any prohibited online
gambling game, as defined in subdivision (f), for money, checks,
credit, or any other representative of value.
(b) Every person who deals, carries on, opens or causes to be opened,
or who conducts, operates, or offers for play any prohibited online
gambling game played for money, checks, credit, or any other representative
of value, to any person that he or she knows or has reason to know
is physically located within this state at the time of the transaction,
is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county
jail not to exceed 90 days, a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars
($1,000) per transaction, or by both that imprisonment and fine.
(c) Every person who deals, carries on, opens or causes to be opened,
or who conducts, operates, or offers for play any prohibited online
gambling game played for money, checks, credit, or any other representative
of value, from a host server, as defined in subdivision (g), that
is physically located within this state at the time of the transaction,
is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county
jail not to exceed 90 days, a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars
($1,000) per transaction, or by both that imprisonment and fine.
(d) (1) Every person or entity who aids and abets another person
who is physically located in this state to play or bet at any prohibited
online gambling game in violation of this section is guilty of a
misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed
90 days, a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars
($1,000) per violation, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(2) This subdivision shall not apply with respect to advertisements
that are not specifically directed towards the residents of this
state and which contain adequate disclosure of the illegality of
these games, nor shall this subdivision apply with respect to Internet
service providers, web pages containing hypertext links, web search
engines, networks, routers, hubs, or other directories, indexes,
devices, or equipment which act as mere functional intermediaries
between a patron and an online gambling enterprise and which do
not reasonably constitute an advertisement or promotion of that
enterprise.
(e) Every person who plays or bets at or against any prohibited
online gambling game for money, checks, credit, or any other representative
of value, while that person is physically located within this state,
is guilty of an infraction punishable by a fine not to exceed one
hundred dollars ($100) per transaction.
(f) A prohibited online gambling game, for purposes of this section,
includes, but is not limited to, any of the following games and
any common variations thereon or facsimiles thereof, as well as
any banking or percentage game played with dice, cards, or devices,
that is conducted, operated, or offered for play over the Internet
for money, checks, credit, or any other representative of value:
(1) Craps.
(2) Roulette.
(3) Blackjack or twenty-one.
(4) Slot machines.
(5) Poker, including stud poker, draw poker, Caribbean stud poker,
or Pai gow poker.
(6) Baccarat.
(7) Bingo, including bingo pulltab games.
(8) Sportsbook wagering, including wagering on the outcome, statistics,
or any other aspect of a sporting event, including wagering on a
horse race , except to the extent authorized by statute or the California
Horse Racing Board .
(9) Lottery games, other than games lawfully conducted by the
California State Lottery .
(g) For purposes of this act, Class II linked electronic machines
and Class III linked electronic gaming devices authorized by federal
law and authorized and operated pursuant to an existing or future
tribal-state compact are not considered a form of prohibited online
gambling.
(h) A host server, for purposes of this section, means the computer
or network of computers on which an online gambling game is operated.
Host server does not include any computer, hub, or other device,
or any independent computer network, that acts as an intermediary
in the transfer of Internet Protocol (IP) packets to and from the
host server, provided that the intermediary device is not owned
or controlled by the person or entity, or a subsidiary thereof,
that owns or controls the host server.
(h)
(i) A transaction, for purposes of this section, means each transfer
of funds or other valuable consideration for use in, or in connection
with, the making of a wager, series of wagers, or parlay wager.
(i)
(j) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Attorney General,
from available resources, is expressly authorized to enforce this
section, and in addition to bringing criminal actions shall have
the authority to file civil actions, issue cease and desist letters,
and take other actions as necessary to maximize compliance with
these provisions by online gambling enterprises, intermediaries,
and individual citizens of this state.
The Attorney General is specifically authorized to review electronic,
print, and other advertisements of online gambling enterprises for
accuracy, and may demand that advertisements appearing in this state
disclose that these online games are illegal in this state. Nothing
in this subdivision shall be construed to limit the authority of
a district attorney to enforce the provisions of this section.
(j)
(k) The provisions of this section are severable. If any provision
of this section or its application is held invalid, that invalidity
shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given
effect without the invalid provision or application.
SEC. 3. Nothing in subdivision (f) of Section 330d of the Penal
Code shall be construed to affect the authority of the California
Horse Racing Board to authorize Internet gaming.
SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section
6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because the only
costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district
will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction,
eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime
or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government
Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution.
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