Owen points out that this recently passed law is hurting some businesses:

Shares of online gaming firms have plunged after the US Congress passed a bill cracking down on internet gambling, threatening their business.

Shares in Partygaming were down 58% at close of London trade, while shares in 888 Holdings tumbled by 26%.

Sportingbet shares dropped by 64% while Empire Online shares slid by 25%.

Several firms have said they could stop taking bets from US customers if the bill is signed into law by President George W Bush in the next two weeks.

The law, part of a sustained clampdown on online gaming in the US, would make it illegal for banks and credit card firms to process online gaming payments from the US.

However it's worse than that.  It's also very bad for people.  It is being argued that this bill has very altruistic goals... namely to save people from themselves by stopping the "crack cocaine" of gambling, otherwise known as internet gambling.  The reality is that this bill is mostly being bankrolled via contributions of brick and mortar casinos in the United States, who are scared of competition from the internet.

The other larger issue is that this will not prevent internet gambling.  Just like the federal anti-gambling laws that created the market for international gambling sites in the first place... this law will simply create a market for international banking and credit companies that will be used by internet gamblers.  The problem is that these new companies will not have to obey U.S. banking laws, and that U.S. citizens who use these companies will not have the same protection from fraud and illegal banking practices that they enjoy today.

So once again, our government has decided to protect us from ourselves by making things more dangerous for everyone, in exchange for more campaign contributions.  Your tax dollars at work.