Greenberg Traurig LLP J. Daniel WalshUSA December 29 2011

U.S. Commercial Gaming. It means that states can now pass laws authorizing the licensure of intrastate Internet gambling. Pursuant to Nevada statutes, on December 23, 2011, Nevada’s Gaming Commission adopted regulations to license online poker websites for intrastate play, and will be positioned to regulate interstate play should federal law authorize the same. In addition, Internet gaming or poker bills are pending in at least four other states: New Jersey, California, Florida and Iowa. It also may be that states could compact with each other to allow interstate provision of such games based on a revenue-sharing formula, similar to the multi-state lottery offerings like Powerball.

State Lotteries. States can now sell lottery tickets on the Internet, and several states, including New York and Illinois, have laws in place that allow this. While there is little controversy surrounding the sale of time-drawing tickets on the Internet, sales of virtual instant scratch-off tickets are likely to be far more controversial, as such a ticket makes a computer function in a manner identical to a slot machine. The National Association of Convenience Stores and its state chapters are likely to be vehemently opposed to scratch-off tickets on the Internet. Companies that provide services to state lotteries are likely to push states toward expanding their lottery offerings on the Internet. There will likely be state-by-state battles between commercial and lottery gaming interests as to whether states should license commercial operators to go on the Internet, or provide the games themselves through their lotteries — such fights are occurring in Canada and Europe today.

Tribal Gaming. The implications for tribal gaming are less clear. Under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA, 25 U.S.C. § 2701 et seq), if a state provides or licenses gaming, the tribe is supposed to be allowed to provide similar games on its reservation land.⁴ Tribal governments will likely argue that if a state lottery offers Internet gaming within a state, or if the state licenses commercial operators to accept Internet wagers, then a tribal government located within that state should be able to license its gaming enterprise to accept Internet play from anywhere in that state. However, some states will likely argue that tribes should only be allowed to accept Internet play from the reservation, as wagers from off the reservation are not “Indian gaming” as defined by IGRA.

Offshore Internet gaming operators. Some will hail this as a victory for offshore Internet gaming operators who have accepted non-sports Internet bets from the U.S. To be sure, such operators relied on legal opinions that maintained that the Wire Act only applied to sports betting, and the DOJ action validates those opinions. However, DOJ maintains that nearly all states have laws that prohibit the acceptance of wagers, except when such wagers are accepted pursuant to a state license, and that those prohibitions also apply to individuals outside the state who accept wagers from individuals within the state. The so-called “Black Friday” indictments of April 15, 2011, of individuals associated with the three largest U.S.-facing Internet poker sites did not reference the Wire Act, but instead relied on IGBA.

 Federal Legislation. Several bills have been introduced in Congress to license and regulate Internet gaming. In the current Congress, H.R. 1174 (Campbell-Frank) would have the Treasury Department license and regulate all forms of Internet gaming except sports betting. H.R. 2266 (Barton) would have the Commerce Department approve state gaming commissions to issue licenses to accept Internet poker bets, such that any operator licensed by an approved state could take play from any state that hadn’t opted out of the federal system.5 Some (particularly lottery interests) argue that new DOJ position means no federal legislation is needed. Others (mainly Nevada commercial gaming interests) argue that it means federal legislation is needed now more than ever. We believe the new DOJ position will provide impetus for hearings on Capitol Hill, and for a renewed push from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada to pass federal legislation to license and regulate Internet poker on an interstate basis.

The original article appeared on Lexology and is much longer. To read the full article, visit: http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=7e3d929f-05ba-428e-b713-3e05ad4ef01c

GM = No more money transmission, just metal sales.

Dear Customer,

We are writing to advise you of a change of services we currently offer to our customers with a Full Holding. Since the launch of GoldMoney in 2001, we have continued to change and adapt to the global increase of compliance requirements for payment service providers. Due to this growing trend of regulation we have decided to suspend the following services until further notice with an effective date of the 21st January 2012:

* The facility to make and receive payments in precious metals to or from other GoldMoney Full Holding customers.

* The facility to convert directly between the various currencies.

Basic Holding owners do not have access to these features and are therefore not affected by this change.

Our research has proven that our customers’ use of the metal payments and currency exchange services is not significant and we trust that the suspension of these services will not be inconvenient for the majority of our customers.

In accordance with our Customer Agreement, we are providing advance notice of this change to our services that will take effect on the 21st January 2012 at 12am local London time (GMT). You will be able to make metal payments and currency exchanges up to this date.

We continue to provide a secure and reliable platform for the purchase, sale and storage of your precious metals. This includes enhancing our systems, introducing and adjusting our products and services, and making our website the most effective tool for managing your precious metals portfolio.

With this in mind, we have prepared a brief survey to gauge your interest in current products and also possible future products we may introduce, depending on the feedback we receive from you. The survey can be completed at the link below. All feedback received is anonymous unless you choose to provide us with your contact details.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/goldmoney

We thank you for your continued business, and we will sincerely appreciate any feedback to help us determine the products and services that are of most interest to you.

Kind regards
Your Relationship Management Team

Source: http://members.beforeitsnews.com/story/1168/277/States_to_Financially_Break_Away_from_Federal_Government—Utah_Monetary_Declaration.html

MYTH NO. 1: THERE ISN’T ENOUGH GOLD
I find it amazing that economists can make statements like this, for it is an elementary principal of economics that if one raises the price of a commodity, one will always have enough of that commodity. What we saw in the run up of gold prices is in fact the raising of the price of gold to match the depreciation of the dollar that has occurred, and still is occurring.

Simply put, there will always be enough gold so long as no one interferes with the free market mechanism.

At $700 an ounce the United States government has enough gold reserves to more than cover all the Federal Reserves notes outstanding. If we were to establish a gold standard by the procedure I have outlined in my bill H.R. 7874, then the world would be fully informed of the gold holdings of the United States Government and the price of gold could adjust accordingly, so that when redemption of our greenbacks – our Federal Reserve notes – began, the price would be the market-clearing price. Quite simply, the statement that there is not enough gold is false. It is a scare tactic used by opponents of the gold standard.

MYTH NO. 2: A GOLD STANDARD WOULD ENABLE RUSSIA AND SOUTH AFRICA TO HOLD US HOSTAGE
The second myth that should be challenged is that the Soviet Union and South Africa could hold us hostage were we to establish the gold standard. It is true that the Soviet Union and South Africa, because they have vast gold deposits, have reaped a windfall in the past decade. Yet we are not today on any sort of gold standard. It is the present inflationary policies of governments the world over that create these windfalls. Rather than giving the U.S.S.R. and South Africa windfalls, we should institute the gold standard.

Stabilization of our monetary system – and perhaps the world monetary system, if the world emulated us – would remove any speculative premium that the Soviet Union and South Africa presently receive. We would see a stabilization of the world price of gold and an end to inflation throughout the world. In such a condition, the Soviet Union and Africa would no longer be in a position to reap windfall benefits.

During the first several months of this year the Soviet Union has withheld gold from the international gold markets. It has recently been rumored that they have sold hundreds of tons to Saudi Arabia at a premium price. Whether or not that is the case, it is easy to see that the inflationary problems that beset us and the rest of the world create the conditions for Russia and South Africa to reap vast economic benefit. The present inflation causes fear and panic among the world’s peoples.

Were we to institute a sound money system – a full 100 percent gold coin standard – the fear and panic would be eliminated. There would be no premium to be reaped by the Soviet Union and South Africa, and they would not receive any windfall from the sale of their bullion and their coins. Nor would Russia and South Africa be able to hold us hostage.

The gold reserves of the United States are immense, but no matter what their size, it is extremely difficult to see how Russia and South Africa, either by restraining their production or by dumping gold, could seriously affect us here in the United States. When we reach a full gold coin standard and our unit of account is a weight of gold, as I have indicated in my bill. H.R. 7874, the world’s entire production for one year would not influence significantly the value of that weight of gold.

MYTH NO. 3: GOLD CAUSES DEPRESSIONS
The third myth is, “that a return to the gold standard will cause a depression.” Now this statement is a half-truth, for if we improperly institute a gold standard, then we might in fact have a depression. Following World War I, the government of Great Britain returned to a gold standard, but in a deflationary fashion. Britain re-established the link that existed between the pound and gold, prior to World War I, not taking into account the increase in the number of pounds that had occurred during the war when Great Britain was off the gold standard. The result was a short depression, because the political experts completely ignored the damage that had been done by their policies during the war.

Were we to establish a gold standard, we would have to pursue a course that would not result in deflation and would not cause a depression. We would redeem at the market price for a period of one year the greenbacks we have printed, and then cease redemption, allowing the gold coins we have put into circulation to function as our money of account.

If we proceed to a gold standard in an orderly fashion, such as I have proposed in my bill H.R. 7874, then there will be no depression. A gold standard cannot be achieved if we do not end our budget deficits as well. The standard must be accompanied by tax cuts, an end to the printing of paper money, and a significant reduction of federal regulations if we expect a restoration of a sound economy.

Unless we are committed to all these things, even the establishment of 100 percent gold coin standard cannot stop our descent into economic chaos. We must cut the federal government down to constitutional size, and the establishment of a full gold standard is part of that process. The Constitution explicitly forbids any state government, and implicitly the Federal government, from making anything except gold or silver coin a legal tender in payment of debt.

MYTH NO. 4: GOLD CAUSES INFLATION
The fourth myth about the gold standard, is that “It will cause inflation.” Opponents the gold standard point out that the world supply of gold increases by about two or three percent per year, and such an increase in supply would result in inflation in any country that adopts a gold standard.

I do not wish to challenge the proposition that the world gold supply increases by 2 to 3 percent per year. For the sake of argument, I will accept that as given. The result of such an increase is that prices might stay stable rather than falling. It is useful in this regard to point out the behavior of prices during our history. For most of the 19th century we had an imperfect gold coin standard. In the 67 years prior to the beginning of the Federal Reserve system in 1913 the consumer price index in this country increased by 10 percent, and in the 67 years subsequent to 1913 the C.P.I. increased 625 percent. This growth has accelerated since 1971 when President Nixon cut our last link to gold by closing the gold window.

In 1833 the index of wholesale commodity prices in the US. was 75.3. In 1933. just prior to our going off the gold standard, the index of wholesale commodity prices in the U.S. was 76.2: a change in hundred years of nine-tenths of one percent. The index of wholesale commodity prices in 1976 was 410.2. Today. the index is 612.3. For 100 years on the gold standard wholesale prices rose only nine-tenths of 1 percent. In the last 45 years of paper money they have gone up 536%.

The index of wholesale commodity prices emphasizes the stability of these prices during the entire 19th century. This stability was first overturned during the Civil War – the greenback period – then in World War I, and once again in World War II, and with the inflation that has persisted since that war.

Rather than causing inflation, the gold standard has historically been a bulwark against inflation. It is politically-manipulated money such as we have had since 1934 that causes our inflation.

People today have come to expect that prices will continue to rise, and we see the beginnings of a hyperinflationary psychology setting in.

If we are to avoid the horrendous consequences of such a psychology, we must take dramatic action and give our country an historically proven system, a full gold coin standard.

MYTH NO. 5: GOLD WOULD BE SPECULATIVE
The last myth about the gold coin standard that I would like to address is the notion that such a standard would be subject to undesirable speculative influences.

This assertion was most recently made in a letter sent by the Federal Reserve Chairman William Proxmire of the Senate Banking Committee. The letter argued that because gold is a commodity used in jewelry and in industry, it is subject to speculative influences that are undesirable in setting up a stable monetary system.

I find such an argument amazing, for it is precisely because it is a commodity and not subject to the manipulation of a bureaucracy in Washington or London that it is desirable. If one wishes to speak of undesirable speculative influences, one need only look at the speculation that occurs daily in the U.S. dollar.

A gold standard would eliminate all speculation about the political motivations of the monetary authorities in governing the supply of money. The great virtue of the gold standard is that it removes discretionary power over the money supply from any one agency, thus ending the most fertile source of speculation. A gold standard puts the power of the monetary system into the hands of the people and takes it away from the politicians and bankers, thus removing a potential vehicle for establishing a tyranny.

Gold cannot be mined as cheaply as Federal Reserve notes can be printed. Nor can its supply be manipulated on a daily basis. There is a great dispersion of power in a gold standard system. That is the strength of the system, for it allows the people to check any monetary excesses of their governors and does not allow the governors to exploit the people by debasing the money.

The letter from the Federal Reserve System to Chairman Proxmire closed with a call for more faith in the System and its good intentions. For over 60 years the American people have been exercising such faith and they have suffered the worst depression and the worst inflations in their history. Let us hear no more of faith in men, but bind government with the chains of an honest monetary system – the full gold standard.

In the Coinage Act of 1792 the Founders provided the death penalty for any government employee who debased the money. One wonders if such a penalty were enforced today how many members of the Federal Open Market Committee would survive the month.

GOLD: THE MEASURING ROD
In his “Tract on Monetary Reform” published in 1923, the father of the age of inflation, John Maynard Keynes, wrote: “The individualistic capitalism of today . . . presumes a stable measuring rod of value. It cannot be efficient – perhaps cannot survive – without one.”

Lord Keynes was correct. Unless we have a stable measuring rod of value, such as a gold coin standard, capitalism and freedom cannot survive. If not vigilant, we will evolve into the sort of fascism that resulted from the great German inflation following World War I.

The choice before us is simple: Shall we have gold and political freedom or shall we have paper and political tyranny?

http://www.ronpaullibrary.org/document.php?id=841

Submitted by cpowell Saturday, June 18, 2011

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

The U.S. House Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology, chaired by U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, will hold a hearing Thursday, June 23, on Paul’s proposed legislation to audit the U.S. gold reserve. Notice of the hearing can be found at the Internet site of the House Financial Services Committee here:

http://financialservices.house.gov/Calendar/EventSingle.aspx?EventID=247243

The text of Paul’s legislation, H.R. 1495, has been posted at the Open Congress Internet site here:

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h1495/text

Pointed questions about surreptitious use of the gold reserve may be posed at the hearing to representatives of the U.S. Treasury Department and Federal Reserve. Unfortunately it’s very unlikely that there will be any mainstream news media reporting about the hearing. So your secretary/treasurer plans to attend the hearing and dispatch something about it to you that evening.

But it would be a lot more useful to you and the country if the hearing was televised in its entirety by the public affairs television network C-SPAN, whose broadcast of Paul’s committee hearing on June 1 showed Fed General Counsel Scott G. Alvarez asserting, contrary to volumes of documentation collected by GATA over the years, that the disposition of the U.S. gold reserve is a matter of indifference to the Fed:

http://gata.org/node/9980

C-SPAN has not yet posted a broadcast schedule for Thursday, June 23, but the network is often receptive to requests from viewers. So please take a moment to send an e-mail to C-SPAN asking the network to broadcast the June 23 hearing of the House Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy cited at the first Internet link above. You can reach C-SPAN’s viewer services office here:

viewer@c-span.org

CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.

Historic Collapse In Philly Fed Which Prints At -7.7 On Expectations Of 7.0, Weakest Since July Of 2009, Biggest 3 Month Drop Ever

06/16/2011 10:12

As we predicted following yesterday’s disastrous New York Fed, we get the second confirmation that the economy is now contracting, courtesy of the Philly Fed, which just printed at negative 7.7 on expectations of 7.0%. This is the lowest number since July of 2009, and is the biggest three month collapse in the history of the series, plunging from 43.4 in March to -7.7 in June, or an over 50 point drop in three months. As expected, the Fed is telegraphing that the economy is collapsing and that stocks needs to plunge another 20% before Operation Twist (QE3) is given a green light. And make no mistake: the downside 3 month momentum in the series at -51.10 is the worst ever: all those buying stocks in advance of more easing are completely forgetting that they will take major losses before the market is low enough to allow actual easing to proceed.

From the report:

The survey’s broadest measure of manufacturing conditions, the diffusion index of current activity, decreased from 3.9 in May to ?7.7, its first negative reading since last September (see Chart). The demand for manufactured goods, as measured by the current new orders index, showed a similar decline: The index fell 13 points and recorded its first negative reading since last October. The current shipments index fell just 3 points but remained slightly positive. Firms reported declines in inventories and unfilled orders, and shorter delivery times.

Firms’ responses suggested little overall improvement in the labor market this month. The current employment index remained positive for the ninth consecutive month, but only 14 percent of the firms reported an increase in employment, while 10 percent reported a decline. Only  slightly more firms reported a longer workweek (14 percent) than reported a shorter one (12 percent) and the workweek index was down only slightly from May.

There is good news: margins may finally improve:

Indexes for prices paid and prices received declined from May and continue a trend of moderating price pressures in recent months. The prices paid index declined sharply, by 22 points this month. Still, 37 percent of the firms reported higher prices for inputs this month, and 10 percent reported a decline. On balance, firms reported a slight rise in prices for manufactured goods: 17 percent reported higher prices for their own goods this month; 12 percent reported price reductions. The prices received index decreased 12 points, its second consecutive monthly decline.

Alas, the Hope is now extinguished:

The future general activity index decreased 14 points this month and has now dropped 61 points over the last three months (see Chart). The indexes for future new orders and shipments also declined, decreasing 9 and 14 points, respectively. The index for future employment fell 17  points and has declined 32 points in the last two months. Still, slightly more firms expect to increase employment over the next six months  (21 percent) than expect to decrease employment (16 percent).

And visually:

Next Zero Hedge prediction about to come true: Goldman will cut its H2 GDP forecast to sub 2% momentarily.

The product allows customers to pay electricity and telephone bills, do the online shopping and transfer money. Customers can also use the product to withdraw money at banks associated with VNO or WMV agents.

VNO managing director Nguyen Thieu Quang said the product plays an intermediary role in transactions and does not solve disputes between the buyer and the seller.

“To protect buyers, WMV will freeze buyer accounts for three days and transfer money to seller accounts if no disputes occur,” Quang explained.

Customers can put money into the e-wallet via bank accounts or scratch cards. However, they will be subjected to 1-2% charges for scratch cards and transaction fees of around 0.8% for online shopping.

VNO has cooperated with service providers to give 5% to 10% discounts for customers using the product, Quang added.

During the introduction ceremony, the enterprise signed cooperation deals with five companies – Toc Do Trading, GaPit Communication, Brilliant Chip, Green Mobile and Naiscorp – to connect to their websites.

Source: http://en.baomoi.com/Home/economy/www2.dtinews.vn/Vietnam-firm-launches-ewallet-WebMoney/138214.epi

By Beth Deisher-Coin World Editor | April 11, 2011 6:00 a.m.
Article first published in 0211-04-11, Opinions section of Coin World

“Utah Legislature backs gold and silver as legal tender”

And so it begins… who’s next?

The Senate gave final approval Thursday to a bill taking the first step to recognize gold and silver as legal tender in the state.

It voted 16-7 to pass HB317, and sent it to Gov. Gary Herbert for his signature.

The measure would recognize as legal tender gold and silver coins issued by the federal government — not just their face value, but also their value in gold and silver or to a collector…

“It will put some pressure on the federal government. That’s the goal here because right now we have a dollar that’s just running away with inflation and our hope is that this is a little bit of a shock that’ll say we want to deal with inflation,” Senate Majority Leader Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, Senate sponsor of the bill, said in earlier debate. He gave senators gold chocolate coins on Thursday before debate…

Rep. Brad Galvez, R-West Haven, sponsor of the bill, earlier told the House, “This is a step in preparedness, a step in security that allows us to be able to help hold up our economy as the dollar continues to shrink.”

Read the full article here:  http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/51404825-76/gold-silver-tender-coins.html.csp