The online gambling industry has been seeing a string of good news lately, which certainly is a welcome change to the strains it has been faced with since the passing of the UIGEA. And not to give too much credit to the UIGEA, because the truth of the matter is that although it has pressured several key online casino operators and gaming-related businesses like Neteller to back out of the market, the UIGEA is not preventing U.S. citizens from participating in online gambling.

The welcoming news began with a confirmation that Massachusetts Senator and Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Barney Frank, is indeed working on legislation with an intent to overturn the UIGEA, which Frank himself so aptly referred to as one of the stupidest laws ever passed. Possibly in conjunction with Senator Frank's legislation, news has also recently surfaced that an initiative to determine whether online casino gambling regulation can effectively be regulated in the U.S. is being rekindled by Nevada Senators, Shelley Berkley and Jon Porter.

Berkley and Porter's initiative calls for an eighteen month study to be undertaken by the National Academy of Sciences agency - the National Research Council. Berkley, who once voted against online gambling regulation in 2000, said she is confident in the improvements of technology since that time, primarily in the areas of protecting underage gamblers. She also said that she has met with Senator Frank and plans to meet with him again in the very near future. And this time around, Porter says there will not be any political hindrances to misrepresent the facts, which a prior Federal Commission study was plagued with.

More good news for the online gambling industry at large is the announcement by leading U.S. gaming authority, Anthony Cabot, that he is spearheading a movement to get more online gamblers to unite and support the Poker Players Alliance. The PPA is thought to be a large enough organization to influence U.S. politicians to repeal the UIGEA and support online gambling regulation. Cabot says that around 1 million members will be needed to make a strong impact for their cause.

And for the icing on the cake, news surfaced this week that the UK's largest insurance group - the fund management unit of insurance group Prudential, M&G Investments - has purchased 2.5 million shares in the online gambling site, Sportingbet, which reader's may recall, has been hounded by U.S. authorities as recent as this year.