November 4th saw history being made and as the Obama administration switches gears from campaigning to preparation for his inauguration, the online casino community can find solace in the list of goals they've published for January. Among the top issues that will be addressed is a vow to ensure the internet will remain open and censorship-free.

The President-Elect Obama, and his team, have set up a website titled Change.org that details their intents for his new administration. There can be found a list of changes, ideas and programs that will be instituted, fought for and lobbied following his inauguration in the new year. Among them is his intent to protect the Internet from filtering and censorship, as well as governmental monitoring. The promise sets the stage for positive changes in the online casino industry.

            Change.org makes the following vow: “to ensure the full and free exchange of ideas through the open internet.” The title of his goal is simple: Protect the openness of the internet, and the site goes on to detail Barack’s positions that the online community is the most open network in history, and it’s that quality that has made it so successful. Network neutrality, it says, is the key to harvesting the benefits of open competition.

            The announcement comes as welcome to the internet gambling community, which has been blasted by disappointing updates in the previous weeks. With Microgaming shutting down access to any new casino players from the US, and the US Treasury finishing plans to implement the UIGEA, hopeful insight to the future Obama promises is certainly a relief. With Congressional backing coming from representatives like Pete Sessions, Shelly Berkley, Barney Frank, Jim McDermott and Robert Wexler, there’s certainly Hope on the horizon, as advertised.