Along with the surprises in the main bill that Barney Frank presented, came a second bill. The first bill presented focused on laws that would legalize and regulate online gambling, while the second bill suggests a breathing space in order for Congress to have time to adopt new laws.

The second Frank bill suggests that the final implementation of the financial transaction ban called for by the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) should be postponed by a year from its current deadline 1st of December 2009 and moved to 1st of December 2010.

The new deadline, should it be adopted by Congress, would leave the way open to lawmakers to withdraw the rules and regulations of the UIGEA before they are entirely implemented. Once the laws have reached their final implementation, it is more difficult to reverse them.

To date, there have been a number of problems caused by the unclear laws which have come from the UIGEA, especially where the ban of processing of financial transactions for Internet casinos is concerned. Financial institutions have been afraid to mistakenly not ban certain online gambling sites, and have instead erred on the side of caution by preventing the purchase of online tickets for state lotteries. The problems with the transaction processing ban have been so far reaching that they have even crossed the border into Canada.

Frank’s bill suggests a gambling licensing act which exempts financial institutions and Internet gambling sites from penalties that may be connected to the UIGEA.