Preach It!

Annie Duke -- professional poker player, Columbia grad, and mother of four -- testified before Congress on the illegitimacy of anti-internet gaming laws in the U.S. She even brought John Locke and John Stuart Mill (and Thomas Jefferson and James Madison) into it! The manner in which the bill outlawing online gaming (it was snuck into a Ports Defense bill) is shady, and the philosophy underpinning prohibition is disingenuous. Somehow, this woman was able to illustrate all these point -- and more! -- in a few minutes before Congress. The video is fuzzy, but the arguments are clear.

The WTO ruled against the U.S. law, saying that it went against the U.S.'s requirements in the WTO charter. The WTO acknowledged the right of the U.S. to opt out of WTO requirements for moral reasons, but ruled that the U.S. was not doing so because it still permitted gambling on horse races and state lotteries to continue online. Hopefully, this matter may be resolved.

This Salon.com article provides further background, and is the source for Duke's video.