Feds harassing foreign gaming execs

[blueodum]

LinusKC,

Activities that take place outside of the US are not subject to US laws.

[mrhat187]

Again.....I mean I don't think you got it the first time. So your reasoning is its already illegal and everyone off shore is setting up illegal sites, and the current legislation to ban all of this isn't necessary because its already illegal? I guess every Attorny General in every state, every rep. that voted for the bill, and basically everyone but you is wrong. I'll say it again and this might be tough to understand, use common sense if it was illegal, listen closely.....if it was already illegal, they wouldn't need a law banning it [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]. I'm hoping you have common sense, but I have my doubts.

[LinusKS]

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Actually, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of laws that prohibit unlicensed gambling in the US. Each and every internet gambling company violates those laws, every day.

Focusing exclusively on the Wire Act simply confuses the picture.

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Then why weren't they charged with them? The only gambling charges in the indictment are the Wire Act and one count of Interstate Transportation of Gambling Paraphernalia (18 USC S1953; Carruthers and BOS weren't charged with it).

If the Federal government wants to charge gambling operators under current law, it'll be the Wire Act, just as it is in this case.

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According to the indictment, the crimes alleged include violations of:

1. The Wire Wager Act
2. Mail Fraud
3. Wire Fraud
4. Interstate travel in aid of Racketeering Enterprise
5. Operation of an Illegal Gambling Business
6. Interstate transportation of Gambling Paraphernalia
7. Money Laundering.

The indictment didn't charge violations of state laws, because it was a Federal indictment brought by a Federal US Attorney.

The states rarely go after cases like this, because they don't have the resources to do it. In fact, that's one of the justifications for these kinds of laws in the first place.

[LinusKS]

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Not if the Phoenix-based guy came to Holland to buy the drugs.

That's essentially what happens online. By the magic of the technology, the US resident is whisked away to Costa Rica to place a wager or play poker or whatever. The event takes place on a server; the server is in Costa Rica; ergo, no US law has been broken.

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I'm sorry, blue, but you're wrong. The internet is not magic, and when you place a bet in Tulsa, OK, you're not whisked away anywhere, and the gambling takes place exactly where it looks like it's happening - in Tulsa.


Mrhat - Yes, internet gambling is already illegal, and yes offshore sites are violating US laws when they do business in America.

Whether HR4411 is "necessary" is up to legislators, but it doesn't have to be necessary for them to pass it. In fact, it doesn't even have to be a good idea.

[Zele]

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Mrhat - Yes, internet gambling is already illegal

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Certain forms of internet gambling are explicitly legal in the United States.

[LinusKS]

Which ones?

[Zele]

The Oregon Lottery, for one.

Also horse racing and fantasy sports.

[mbeats]

What about the players who have active accounts. Will the site take the money and run?