Following the reintroduction of the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA) in the U.S. House of Representatives by Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), the entire iGaming world expected Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to reintroduce RAWA into the U.S. Senate. Graham has indicated he would be reintroducing the legislation he and Chaffetz first pushed for in 2014, presumably at the behest of Sheldon Adelson, who is widely believed to be the driving force behind RAWA. But up to this point, RAWA hasn’t returned for an encore appearance in the U.S. Senate. There are several reasons Graham may have flinched on reintroducing an online…

Even as the rise of the Internet has driven communications and economic growth to heights previously unimagined, some lawmakers are using that very explosion as pretext to expand the federal government’s power and reach in ways that threaten the delicate balance of powers inherent in our federalist system. A key example is a new piece of legislation called the “Restoration of America’s Wire Act,” or RAWA. Introduced in the House as H.R. 707 by Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, the bill purports simply to update the half-century-old Wire Act, originally signed by President John F. Kennedy to combat the influence of…

A group of US senate Democrats wants representatives of the state of New York to fight attempts to restore the 1961 Wire Act, reports the New York Daily News. According to a letter sent to the New York delegation, the restoration of the American Wire Act bill – known as RAWA – vetoes the state’s ability “to determine for itself what forms of gambling are authorised within the state, a right which New York and every other state has historically exercised.” The New York state lottery currently offers gambling via the internet but an online poker bill is being proposed…

The Restoration of Americas Wire Act bill (known at RAWA) is in Congress and would ban Internet gambling. However, it could also inadvertently criminalize Nevada’s booming mobile sports wagering business, which has been credited with turning the Silver State’s sports books into a $3.9 billion-a-year industry. The measure, backed by Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson, is aimed at reversing changes made in 2011 to the 1961 Federal Wire Act. If approved, the RAWA bill would end most forms of online betting, including interactive poker in Nevada. Because the bill would stop transmission of gambling information through wire communications…

Senate Minority Leader, Democrat Harry Reid, was making online gambling news when he announced his renewed push for a full online gambling ban in the U.S. including poker. Reid told the Las Vegas Sun late Monday that if he isn’t able to get an exemption for poker from a proposed ban of online gaming making its way through Congress, he would consider supporting a full online gaming ban. “Unless we can get something done with poker, I’m going to look closely — I haven’t made up my mind — but I’m going to look closely into banning it totally,” Reid…