Either the tide is turning in the battle to legalize online casinos or legislators have managed to delay disappointment.  The fact that US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has agreed to delay the activation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act shows that he too may have a desire to see the law overturned. 

Representative Barney Frank has been working hard to introduce legislation that will not only overturn the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement act but to also establish a frame work for the operation of legal online casinos in the United States.  However, major economic issues stood in the way of him getting much done this year.  Geithner’s reprieve gives Frank more time to accomplish his goals while avoiding financial institutions ever having to operate under the restriction of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

In the meantime Frank has managed to muster a solid support base for regulated online casinos.  His legislation currently has 63 legislators signed on as cosponsors for the bill.  While this is indeed a solid base of support there is no guarantee it will be enough to pass the bill into law.  But supporter have reason to be optimistic as Frank now has an additional 6 months to garner even more support.

So, all year people have anticipated that this would be the year that online casinos were finally legalized in the United States.  It looks like some serious progress will be made this year but next year will likely be the big year for online casinos.  At least this year was able to end on a positive note.