As you may have heard by now, the U.S. federal government is considering requiring financial institutions to record the from where and to where details of EVERY electronic transfer.  This would be an immense burden on the banks.  Putting aside the downside of how the banks would pass the cost on to the consumer…many in the poker world are nervous that this proposed law would spell the end of U.S. online poker, because the banks would know exactlywhich transactions are related to online poker, and thus violative of the UIGEA.  This is a legitimate concern. 

But there is another view espoused by at least one author/group.  That view is that the proposed legislation would actually help poker players.  The thinking is that since the original purpose of the UIGEA was to counter illegal drug and terrorist activities, by being able to mark the online poker transactions separate from potentially drug/terrorist-related activities, online poker may be spared a crackdown.  In other words, the federal government will know which transactions are for online poker, but not enforce the UIGEA for those transactions. 

I am not ready to endorse this theory.  But it is interesting, and certainly worth passing on for thought.  If nothing else it reminds me that sometimes even the worst situation can have unintended positive consequences.  (Kind of like misclicking “raise pot” with nothing and your opponent folding.)