Re: Online Gambling Is Illegal in the US
 

The Wire Act only covers sportsbetting through telephone lines. It is quite specific in it's wording.

Mr Cohen's (entirely bogus) conviction was based on the fact that he was running a sports betting operation in Antigua and his customers were using telephone lines (remember the days of dial-up?) located in the US to place bets.

Re: Online Gambling Is Illegal in the US
 

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The Wire Act only covers sportsbetting through telephone lines. It is quite specific in it's wording.



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Not quite. While it is true that the Wire Act in its plain language applies to only sports wagering, it does not specify telephone lines. It is actually very broadly worded (gr?) with the term "wire communications facility."

We did not argue at my trial that the internet did not at some point pass through a wire communications facility. It didn't pass the laugh test. I was charged with 8 counts in my case. Counts 3, 4, and 5 involved internet bets exclusively.

Moving forward to the present and the WTO matter, the Department of Justice takes the position that the Wire Act applies to ALL internet wagering, not just sports. How can they do this? Because they said so.

The 5th Circuit stated in a civil case that the Wire Act only applied to sports and not casino games. When the WTO lawyers brought this up in meetings with the DOJ, the DOJ's response was the DOJ was not involved in that case, the DOJ thinks the 5th Circuit is wrong, and therefore the DOJ is not bound by that federal appellate decision. I can't make this up.