It seems that there is very little that can be done to appease the opponents of online gambling.  Many things have changed since Barney Frank attempted to regulate online casinos, the first time, back in 2007.  The most important change is the language of the bill.  Another important change is the technology associated with today’s online casinos.

Back in 2007 there was a lot of flexibility as to how laws for online sports gambling would be enforced.  Frank’s 2007 version of the law left it up to the various sports leagues as to whether gambling on their matches would be permitted.  This current bill explicitly forbids online sports betting.

That seems to matter very little to some of the most influential sporting leagues in the United States.  Both professional sporting leagues and the National Collegiate Athletic Association believe that passing Frank’s bill will lead to an increase in online sports betting.

According to letter submitted to the House Financial Services Committee, the committee over which Barney Frank presides as chairman, sports leagues believe legalizing online casinos will “reverses nearly 50 years of clear federal policy against sports betting and it opens the door wide to sports gambling on the Internet.”

On the technological front, software exists that make it easier for online casinos to protect against underage gambling.  However Representative Spencer Bachus, a ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee is skeptical of how effectively such software can do it job.  Bachus has been known to quote an Internet security expert that says such “security measures are inherently unreliable, can be trivially circumvented and will fail at high rates.”