A court of appeals in America, a country with a ban on internet gambling, just recently upheld that ban. Strangely enough, the appellate court may have actually set up some of the US states to have more influence on policy than ever before. This all stems from a third circuit US Appellate court denying a claim from a company named Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming association that stated that the current law is unconstitutional and that it infringes on the privacy rights.
The timing of this case is impeccable, as the Justice Department currently faces the prospect of a few Congressmen attempting to actually take steps towards having the ban laws overturned, citing that in this tough economic time the revenue that could be generated by internet gambling is enormous. One congressman was reported to have said that they are very disappointed that the court did not overturn the law, but they have now have a ton of useful information to utilize moving forward.
According to documents, the court has stated that the act does not explicitly state that any particular type of gambling is illegal. The court goes on to say that Interactive’s actions can be considered unlawful only if the states where the bettor resides would treat the bet in question as illegal. There are currently only six states that cite Internet gambling would go against the law and in the other 44 states there is still a chance to make it so Internet gambling is regulated and legal. Internet gambling sites are nervous to go forward and test the system as authorities in the United States have become even stricter about enforcing gambling violations and go so far as to freeze bank accounts belonging to thousands of internet poker players. A few months ago a court actually seized over one hundred websites that they claim were operating illegally.
There are many arguments against online gambling with the major one being the influence that it can have on children. While this may be a valid point, advocates of Internet gambling say that the laws are too vague to keep it illegal. The American Gaming Association is stuck in the middle with no agreement amongst their members about which of the many options to look at and employ. Most recently, Senator Barney Frank has tried to push legislation to overturn the ban so that it can be legal and regulated so that the government can benefit from the huge tax revenue and be able to protect the consumers that participate. Only time will tell if that will be successful and we will keep watching.
