Is Online Gambling Legal?

According to the Wire Act, one is not permitted to make use of a wire transmission for the purpose of placing a bet. The Wire Act clearly states that "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 placing 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."

While some may argue that the Wire Act pertains to all forms of gambling, others believe that it only refers to sports betting and wagering on sports events. Interpreting the Wire Act to mean that all forms of online gambling are illegal, many banks and financial institutions decided to block online gambling transactions that make use of credit cards. Other online financial services such as paypal.com ceased to process gambling related transactions and most of the major search engines such as yahoo.com and google.com stopped accepting gambling related advertisements.

Although the Department of Justice managed to put a significant dent in the advertising and banking operations of the online gambling industry in the United States, there are currently thousands of online gambling websites operating legally outside the U.S. Furthermore, since most of the online casinos accept numerous offline and online payment methods, one does not require a credit card to play at an online casino.

According the latest online gambling figures, most online casino players are from the United States, and the online gambling industry is continuing to grow at a phenomenal rate from 1.5 billion dollars in 2000 to a projected growth estimate of well over 10 billion dollars for the year 2005. In order for the Department of Justice to make a truly serious dent in the online gambling industry, they would need to convince foreign bodies such as the government of Antigua and Barbuda (a tiny country that processes 25% of online gambling transactions) that online gambling is illegal.

Taking the matter all the way to the World Trade Organisation, the tiny island of Antigua and Barbuda argued that the United States trade policy does not prohibit cross border gambling operations. It also argued that the U.S would be hypocritical to do otherwise since it wants to allow U.S. casinos to operate land-based and Internet-based units overseas.

Meanwhile, the United States argued that regulation was not a viable alternative for prohibition due to five major risks: underage gambling, compulsive gambling, money laundering, possible abuse by organized crime, and the risk of fraud.

On the 7th of April, 2005, the World Trade Organization ruled in favor of Antigua and Barbuda.

"The WTO has now found U.S. prohibitions on Internet gambling improper and discriminatory under global trade rules," Paulsen said. "This WTO ruling means the U.S. will need to regulate, rather than prohibit Internet gaming. It's clear that this will require Internet gaming companies seeking to do business with U.S. consumers to have adequate protections for consumers in place, to deal with such problems as the risk of underage gaming, fraud, and money laundering. The good news is that there are now solutions in the payment system to do just that." Kobus Paulsen, CEO of the UC Group, said on April 7, 2005.

Thus according to the World Trade Organisation, gambling at licensed online casinos and sportsbooks is not illegal. Rather than waging war against the online gambling industry, governmental bodies hostile to online gambling should work towards the regulation and taxation of the online gambling industry, while searching for possible solutions regarding the problems of underage gambling, compulsive gambling, money laundering, possible abuse by organized crime, and the risk of fraud.

Copyright © 2005 http://www.casinoguide.ws - Free Casino Cash Guide, All Rights Reserved.

This document may be freely redistributed in its unedited form and on the condition that all copyright references are kept intact along with the hyperlinked URLs.

---

The Secrets of Basic Craps Tournaments

Pssst...! Wanna know a secret?How about the secrets of basic... Read More

Roulette System: How you can win Roulette easily and automatically

In this article, we will discuss on "A personal interview... Read More

Sports Betting Portfolio Management

The subject of financial investment is such a wide and... Read More

Your POSITION Of Power In Holdem

In Hold'em poker, the importance of your position in relation... Read More

Semi Bluffing

Bluffing is an important part of most poker player's games.... Read More

Becoming a Consistent Winner at Online Low-Limit Texas Hold ?Em

Start with Small Stakes and Play Tight, Tight, and More... Read More

Do You Believe These Four Online Slot Machine Myths?

The fact that people don't really understand how online slot... Read More

The Secrets of the Field

Pssst...! Wanna know a secret?How about the secret of the... Read More

A Game For All Seasons

An overall review of online casino software has led me... Read More

The Bingo Renaissance

Little old ladies in slippers, playing for pennies and cents... Read More

Pai Gow Poker Basics

Using the standard poker hand ranking methods (see below), the... Read More

Avoid These 4 Roulette Myths and Play Like a Pro!

Roulette is a fun exciting and simple game to play,... Read More

Three Card Poker Betting

A player must be aware of how to place bets... Read More

How to Play Online Roulette

Maybe you haven't played online roulette before, or you are... Read More

Beating The NFL: A Guide To Smart Sports Betting.

Well folks, here we are. It's August 13 as I... Read More

Evaluating Starting Hands In No-Limit Holdem Tournaments

There are three main factors that influence how you should... Read More

Online Gambling Casinos - Wear Your Thinking Cap and Prosper

I receive many emails each week from people who deposited... Read More

Help Become a Consistent Winner at Online Low-Limit Texas Hold ?Em by Playing at the ?Easy? Tables

Select Advantageous TablesTable selection is one of the most overlooked... Read More

Introduction to Texas Holdem Strategy ? 3 Concepts

Concept #1 ? Pot OddsLong-term profits in holdem come from... Read More

A NO B.S. Explanation of Spread Betting For Newbies

Note: The goal of this article is to give you... Read More

Gambling Addiction Basics

The coming age has brought with it numerous new pathological... Read More

The Secrets of the Fives and Nines

Pssst...! Wanna know a secret?How about the secret of the... Read More

The Secrets of Martingale Systems

Pssst...! Wanna know a secret?How about the secret of Martingale... Read More

Casino Business Opportunity

There are really two main options to owning a casino... Read More

2 Great Methods To Free Online Poker

What's one of the most common dreams for a an... Read More

The Other World Series: The 2005 World Series Of Poker

Growing up, the American dream for many boys was playing... Read More

Why Online Poker is Better Than Land Based Poker

Online Poker has become the greatest hit in the online... Read More

Our Gambling Vacation To Louisiana

Before I begin to describe how we prepared for and... Read More

Gambling Stories 101

A win at a gambling table can be fun narrating.... Read More

Internet Poker - 13 Rules to Follow

Add bad poker players to your buddy listPlaying poker is... Read More

Viva Las Vegas Buffets

Please correct me if I am wrong but aren't Las... Read More

The Secret of Multiple Odds Tables

Pssst...! Wanna know a secret?How about the secret of winning... Read More

Video Poker

Video poker is usually played against a machine, which displays... Read More