PPA IN NEW ONLINE POKER LEGALISATION INITIATIVE
Thursday September 15,2011 : A new petition for the US administration
The very democratic introduction of a US government communication website entitled "We the People" (http://www.whitehouse.gov/wethepeople) has prompted the Poker Players Alliance legalization action group to initiate a new petition aimed at getting the attention of US administration officials and lawmakers.
The motive behind the website is the all-important creation of American jobs in a stagnating economy, something which the legalization of online poker – and indeed internet gambling in general – could certainly do.
The concept is that any cause that is able to muster over 5 000 signatures – apparently not necessarily American – on a petition in a 30 day period will be ensured of a thorough review by the government.
Coming on the heels of the growing appetite for online gambling tax revenues among US state and federal legislators (see previous InfoPowa reports) the creation of such a petition could add momentum.
This appears to be the PPA's strategy in encouraging poker players to support a fresh petition, which the organisation is currently drafting and will publicise soon.
Given the tens of thousands of online players reportedly using the big online poker sites daily, and the claimed 10 million players of one of America's favourite gambling genres, it should be possible to generate a very large response.
Writing on the PPA site recently, Player Relations VP Rich Muny observed: "I wish to thank the entire poker community for the outstanding work in telling our elected officials that we demand action on the online poker issue.
“We as individuals have sent over 100,000 letters to lawmakers and made countless phone calls to lawmakers this year alone. We have also posted thousands of pro-poker statements to their Facebook walls, while also sending them thousands of pro-poker Twitter messages."
His point is that such a strong show of support for legalised online poker in the United States keeps the message front-of-mind with lawmakers, and strengthens the hand of the pro-poker lobbyists. The "We the People" petition will provide another channel for that pressure.
