In the ever evolving chess match between the Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA) and the US government regarding the UIGEA, iMEGA just made their next move.

The previous move (as you may recall), involved the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filing their response brief with the US 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in regards to "iMEGA v. Mukasey, et al," refuting many of iMEGA's initial arguments (i.e. that the UIGEA should be "void for vagueness," that it violates constitutional privacy protection, that it lacks uniformity). Once that response was filed, iMEGA had just 15 days to submit a brief response in regards to the DOJ's response, regarding their initial filing (you just gotta love bureaucracy).

Last week iMEGA did just that, when they filed their own 27 page response brief, refuting all of the DOJ's arguments. With this filing the next move belongs to the courts, with the selection of a three judge panel to review both briefs and decide when they want to entertain oral arguments.

It's still a long road to walk but iMEGA's representatives, particularly iMEGA chairman Joe Brennan, still seem very optimistic, especially now that the US Department of Treasury and the Federal Reserve have published the UIGEA's final regulations.

"After reviewing the final regulations, we're extremely confident the court will look at this law and agree that UIGEA should be 'void for vagueness," said Joe Brennan Jr., chairman of iMEGA. "Regulators and Congress have refused to even define what 'unlawful internet gambling' is, and if you cannot even answer that basic question, how exactly are banks supposed to do it?"

For more information visit www.imega.org. Story by Mark Anderson