Washington - A new trade group called the Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA) this week filed suit against Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Federal Reserve, seeking to halt enforcement of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, The Gambling Newswire reported.

Signed into law last year by President Bush, the law prohibits banks, credit card companies and other services from processing online gambling transactions for U.S. customers.

The lawsuit calls the law an infringement on basic constitutional rights, and references a recent World Trade Organization ruling against the U.S., which found that the U.S. ban on Internet gambling unfairly inhibited trade with the island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, where many online casinos are based.

"The purpose of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act is to prevent Americans from engaging in their fundamental rights to conduct their lives in the manner they wish to live it -- to be free from the government imposing public morality in the privacy of one's home," said Eric M. Bernstein, Esq., an attorney for iMEGA.

The iMEGA lawsuit comes six weeks after Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) introduced the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act, which would allow for regulated, licensed online gambling in the U.S.

Related Links:
http://www.theonlinewire.com/articleView.aspx?ID=2846

http://tinyurl.com/2fxnse (The Register)

http://www.house.gov/frank/netgambling0407.html