Martin Owens is an attorney from Sacramento, CA who specializes in the problems of Internet and interactive gaming. Comments and inquiries are welcome at mowens@trade-attorney.com

First, DON'T PANIC.

True, this is not a good thing for the industry. But c'mon back off the window ledge, everybody!

Remember that the powers that be have always opposed Internet gambling, always sought to extinguish it. And they have always failed. I-gaming has met and overcome every challenge and obstacle. I-gaming has grown from nothing in 1996 to a $12 billion dollar industry today, in the teeth of everything that governments could do. A $12 billion dollar market is not going to disappear. In fact part of that market, online horse bets is already legal, used in 26 states fully and partially Interactive. As I will explain in a minute, the pendulum is in fact swinging our way.

And so please, stop spreading silly-ass rumors and crying "wolf" for the fun of it. I was at the Affiliate conference in Vegas in September, and there were damn fool stories about how the Feds were waiting for us with hundreds of arrest warrants and guns drawn. Impresario Marc Lesnick, to his lasting credit, refused to be intimidated. He held it together and put on a useful and informative show. And guess what? Nobody got hauled off screaming to the gulag. Some software providers and affiliate programs, who shall be nameless, were intimidated by all the hoo-ha and did not appear.

Or again, at the Mobile Gambling conference in Montreal, just finished, Chicken Little was in full cry. The less someone knew about the Senate bill, or how legislation actually works, the louder they would howl: "THIS is illegal now, and so's THAT, and now we CAN'T do this..." Sure enough, a quiet word later on always revealed that the howler in question hadn't even read the damn thing.

If you need to feel important, buy a dog. He'll hang on your every word, and never care if you know what you're talking about. If you need to feel someone is being mean to you, go find one of those leather mamas who'll take a riding crop and whack the tar out of you for three hundred bucks. And if you need to be in a business that has no risk of official disapproval whatever, go sell shoes, or cheese, or Amway someplace. In the meantime, stop trying to panic everybody else. Please.

Second, TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT YOUR OWN POSITION AND TAKE PRECAUTIONS

Again, never mind the primal scream therapy. Where do you stand ? If you are a gambler only, you need fear very little from State law. How are they gonna know you're gambling online unless you tell them? And from the Feds- nothing. There is no Federal law against the mere act of gambling.

If you are an operator, a service provider, vendor or advertiser, find out where you stand legally if you don't already know. It's astonishing how many otherwise sane and rational people make vital decisions in this area based on bar rumors and B.S. If you think you might have a problem, get it looked and and dealt with by people who know what the score is- bankers , accountants, and yes, there is even a wicked lawyer or two who can help. The solutions are often quick and simple, and surprisingly painless -- IF you take them in time.

Third, MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!

The reason that hack politicians can get away with stunts like this is because gambling in general, and the I-gaming sector in particular, has for too long tamely accepted the label ( and the libel) that this is all some furtive, guilty, back-alley vice. Gaming today is a global entertainment market, with less to apologize for than a good many " respectable" institutions and companies . Not only is is thriving financially, it is expanding online technology generally. Is online gambling a dirty business, a trap for the innocent? Then why do a dozen States license fully interactive bets on their horse races, with another dozen using the Internet in a supporting role? Why are there "second chance" drawings online for State lotteries? Why are plans being put forward for state-sponsored poker rooms ? Even Las Vegas, for so long an all weather foe of I-gaming, has finally realized its value as online poker fuels a national wave of interest that means bigger profits on the Strip. It's no accident that the first world poker champion, Chris Moneymaker, was seeded into his tournaments through online play.

So, then, why do these absurd, ill-written and ultimately unenforceable measures become law? Because there's no competition. There is no one to call or write in and say: " hey, you, I play poker and I vote. And if I want to spend my money online that way, what's it to you ?" In a country where 48 of the 50 States sanction gambling in some form, Congressmen actually had the gall to call online gaming a " scourge" and a threat to the young. Given recent developments, I would far rather have my teenagers playing poker online than roaming the halls of Congress unescorted.

But if we want to be effective, we can't take it out in wisecracks any more. There have to be eyes watching, and voices ready to cry " no, you don't" and expose the political con game.
If you won't stand up for your rights and liberties, who will?