Is Online Gambling Against The Law?
49326
Internet
Oct 12, 2007
acbuddy
Is Online Gambling Against The Law?
Internet casinos and sportsbooks have grown immensely in popularity over the past several years. From playing cards to betting on the Super Bowl to playing roulette, you can literally have Las Vegas in the comfort of your own home. However, is it legal to gamble online? The answer is, yes and no. Currently, the law stipulates that online gambling is illegal, but given the fact that most online casinos continue to operate unfettered, it might seem that it is in fact legal to run an online betting or casino business. What forms of gambling are available online? Well, you can play poker and other card games, you can bet on sports, or you can play games of chance, such as roulette, craps, etc. Betting on sports seems like a perfectly legitimate form of online betting - the computer does not control who wins a pro football game. Games of chance should probably be prohibited. A computerized roulette wheel can easily be fixed, resulting in a few winning bets, but enough losing spins to insure the house wins. So, of these activities, which ones are legal? According to the Wire Wager Act, betting on sports is the only form of online wagering that is illegal. The Wire Wager Act reads as follows: "Whoever being engaged in the business of betting or wagering knowingly uses a wire communication facility for the transmission in interstate or foreign commerce of bets or wagers, or information assisting in the placement of bets or wagers on any sporting event or contest, or for the transmission of a wire communication which entitles the recipient to receive money or credit as a result of bets or wagers, or for information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years or both." This means that it is illegal for American based internet companies to accept bets on sports or other "contests." However, most online gambling enterprises have moved their operations offshore to countries in Central America and other countries around the world. It is common for most of these companies to be incorporated in places like Antigua or the Caribbean islands. PartyPoker, the most popular website for playing poker for money online, is licensed and regulated by the Government of Gibraltar. Online sportsbooks, often run by Americans offshore, still accept bets from Americans, and this is where the problem arises. Americans are the biggest betters, and most of the income stream for online sports betting comes from American wagers. These companies usually provide wire instructions to the gamblers so that the player can wire money into a pre-funded betting account before they can begin wagering. So, the question is, is it legal for an offshore company to run their business offshore but still accept bets from the United States, where online sports betting is technically illegal? Yes and no. Theoretically it is illegal, but it is very difficult to compel an online sports betting service to shut itself down if they operate under the laws of a foreign government where it is legal. It is been very difficult for the Department of Justice to enforce the Wire Wager Act when it comes to offshore companies, and the offshore betting business continues to get bigger and bigger. In 1998, the sum total of all internet wagers was estimated at $600 million, and has grown by 10 or more times that between then and the year 2006. The Wire Wager Act was upheld when the U.S. Supreme Court, during 2001 and 2002, refused to review the conviction of Jay Cohen, who had been running an internet sportsbook based in Antigua. And, even though the Department of Justice has said in recent years that that the Wire Wager Act also declares online casino games, not just sports betting, to be illegal, the Federal Appeals Court has ruled that that interpretation is not correct. However, in July of 2006, everything changed. On a vote of 317-93, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to ban financial payments to offshore casinos as part of the The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 H.R. 4411. The legislation also compels banks and credit card companies to cut off payments to the estimated 2,300 gambling sites located outside of U.S. jurisdiction. This legislation bans all forms of internet gambling, including card games and sportsbetting. Ultimately, the U.S. Government is just trying to protect betters from getting screwed by online casinos that accept bets over the internet but do not pay out when someone wins. However, it does not seem fair to allow major casinos that operate in Las Vegas and Atlantic City to have a monopoly on the betting industry. Online casinos and sports betting over the internet should be permitted. The United States simply needs to implement a system whereby the online casino industry is regulated, making it mandatory for these companies to disclose the details of their operations and apply for a casino or sportsbook license.
Jim Pretin is the owner of http://www.forms4free.com, a service that helps programmers make an HTML form
send email to acbuddy
Write a Review
Add to My Favorite
Refer it to Friend
Report Article
Other links owned by this user
If you have a website to promote but little money to spend on marketing, there are several strategies you can use
Category:
Homeopathy is fast becoming a treatment of choice over conventional medicine for many illnesses, but does it really work?
Category:
Lexapro is a potentially dangerous anti-depressant that has become the subject of much debate as to its safety and effectiveness
Category:
Research suggests that you might want to think about trying to reduce your cholesterol naturally before using Lipitor as a medical treatment
Category:
There is a right way and a wrong to launch a website, here are the steps you should follow for marketing your online business
Category:
If you have a website, establishing an affiliate program might be the key to successfully promoting your business without spending money on advertising
Category:
If you are looking for an affordable way to promote your internet-based business, an affiliate program may be the solution
Category:
If you are new to ecommerce, here are some suggestions for setting up a system for accepting payments on your website
Category:
Find out why XQuery will become more important as alternative computer platforms become more popular
Category:
If you are about to buy life insurance but do not know the first thing about it, here is a quick introduction
Category:
Investment analysts have begun to rely more heavily upon the PEG ratio as opposed to the P/E ratio
Category:
VBScript is perhaps the most important interactive programming language on the web
Category:
For those of you who have a website but have no idea how to promote it, here is some information to help you get started
Category:
VBScript is perhaps the most important programming language for making web pages dynamic and interactive
Category:
Without umbrella insurance, you could lose everything you own in a lawsuit
Category:
For those of you out there who are desperate to understand how Google ranks websites, here are some of the criteria they use
Category:
Research suggests that the short-term beneifts of taking Lipitor might be outweighed by the long term consequences to your health
Category:
You should learn how to manage your own investments, because if you rely solely upon your broker, your portfolio might not grow as much as you want
Category:
A mutual fund is the solution to portfolio diversification for the novice investor
Category:
Other links at Internet
Are you making the internet work for you? Or, are you getting worked by the internet?
Category:
This article tells the reader how photography can be approached on the macro level that allows the photographer to understand their digital camera better.
Category:
This article tells the reader how to use the right steps and techniques for your broad based internet marketing campaign.
Category:
Ever heard of affiliate programs? Here are the reasons why web marketers go gaga over affiliate marketing as a form of internet advertisement
Category:
When you make the decision to start a website for your business, it is a big step. Going from the world of offline business where clients are limited to geographical locations to online where the entire world is a potential client can be overwhelming.
Category:
Site Sponsor
Directory Statistics
Articles: 68252
Categories: 501
Yahoo Entertainment
