.: Online Gambling: Legal or Illegal?
By:Jim Pretin
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.
Article keywords: online gambling, internet gambling, online sportsbetting
Article Source: http://www.articles32.com
Jim Pretin is the owner of http://www.forms4free.com, a service that helps programmers make a free HTML form.
.: New Legal Articles
1). Who Can Make An Accessibility Claim Under the ADA
Who Can Make a claim under the ADA for lack of accessibility to a public business or facility.
2). A Loophole in Landlord Tenant Law in California
Basic housing standards required for residential property and a the loop hole that allows landlords to legally harass tenants.
3). Asbestos Settlements Help Victims Breathe Easier
The term asbestos settlement is used to describe all legal settlements reached where asbestos exposure has caused serious medical problems for an individual who worked in an environment now known to cause several types of 100% fatal cancers.
4). Choosing the Right Mesothelioma Lawyer Means Everything
Recently, have you or a loved one been diagnosed with Mesothelioma?
5). Mesothelioma And Getting Legal Representation
Filing a Mesothelioma lawsuit can be a long and arduous road.
6). Mesothelioma Lawyers In High Demand
Mesothelioma is a rare, deadly cancer that strikes nearly 3,000 people in the United States every year.
7). What Constitutes Nursing Home Neglect - Help for Nursing Home Abuse Victims
In America today, we have placed nearly 2 million elderly family members under the direct care of a nursing home.
.: Top Legal Articles
1). What does it take to be a Lawyer?
When you see all these handsome Lawyers in TV series like LA Law, sitting in their fancy offices, driving these flashy cars, have you ever realized what they have been through in terms of time, years of education, money, Certifications etc’.
Let me Describe to you the Lawyers course of training. Formal educational requirements for lawyers include a 4-year college degree, 3 years in law school, and the passing of a written bar examination.
2). Crime Never Pays
Crime is a bad thing. And the previous sentence was an understatement, and an inaccurate description of the concept of Crime.
3). The New Bankruptcy “Means Test” Explained in Plain English
With the new bankruptcy law in effect as of October 17, 2005, there is a lot of confusion regarding the new "means test" requirement. The means test will be used by the courts to determine eligibility for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. The purpose of this article is to explain in plain language how the means test works, so that consumers can get a better idea of how they will be affected under the new rules.
4). Estate Planning - No Contest Clause in your Will
Copyright 2006 Ronald Hudkins
There is value in the story of an older client who had seen a very interesting clause employed in a will. There was a great deal of money at stake and the many family members had little reason to love each other, because they had never met and never knew of each other’s existence. It was expected that the will would be heavily contested on several different fronts in every conceivable way.
5). DUI Law Punishments
It’s no surprise that current DUI Law mandates that DUI punishments cause problems in your personal life in the short term. With punishments such as t
6). Employment Law - Unfair Dismissal - Constructive Dismissal
The case of Thornley v Land Securities Trillium Ltd [2005] concerned a claim for unfair and constructive dismissal by an employee who alleged that her employer imposed a new job description on her and she contended that her contract of employment was fundamentally breached by such changes to her duties imposed by her employer. The Tribunal upheld this claim.
7). Employment Law - Excessive Working Hours - Breach of Duty of Care
n the case of Mark Hone v Six Continents Retail Limited (2005), a pub landlord having collapsed due to overwork successfully sued his former employers in the County Court for breach of duty of care.
Mr Hone, the claimant, started working for Bass (now Six Continents) as a pub manager in 1995 and in 1998 was awarded "Pub Manager of the Year". However, in 1999 he started working at The Old Moat House where he found himself working 13 hour days.