U.S. Internet gambling companies plan to suspend operations after a bill passed in the Senate Sept. 29 making it illegal for banks and credit card companies to process online gaming payments from the United States. This caused the initial $12-billion market value of the online gaming industry to drop to $5 billion in just one day.
President Bush's imminent signing of the bill will disallow U.S. citizens' access to most Internet poker and gaming sites. UW-Madison's response to the bill was varied.
I would expect it to have a small effect on places where gambling is legal in Nevada and Atlantic City and so on,"" said Edward Almasy, co-director of the UW-Madison Internet Scout Project. ""It's the same effect that we're seeing in other areas of the economy where if you can download music, you're not going to go to an actual music store to buy a CD. And if you can gamble online, you're not going to necessarily take the trouble to go to the casino.""
Steven Durlauf, a UW-Madison professor of economics, also said he does not foresee a large effect on the economy.
""I certainly don't see that there's any macroeconomic consequences from banning that particular type of expenditure,"" Durlauf said. ""It's difficult to imagine that people who spend their money on online gaming won't spend it on something else.""
Having used online gambling as a way of paying for four years of college, UW-Madison senior Artyom Kostetsky said he believes the law will have a significant effect.
""I know at least 20 people who actually do it for a living to support their families with it,"" Kostetsky said. ""This new legislation puts a pretty big damper on that.""
Kostetsky predicted an ""underworld of online gambling"" will inevitably be created. Almasy said he agreed.
""If someone comes up with a good work-around, so to speak, to gamble, then I imagine college students as a whole will probably be on the forefront of making use of that work-around if they are interested in gambling online,"" Almasy said.
""The industry is flexible and they're going find a way to sidestep the new legislation just like they have before,"" said Kostetsky. ""I just think we have bigger issues to deal with as a country than putting a ban [on Internet gambling].
