Online Gambling Is Illegal in the US

[Jay Cohen]

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



[/ QUOTE ]

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.

[Benjamin]

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All the arguments over Federal legislation miss the point.

Gambling legislation is primarily the domain of the states, not the federal government.

[/ QUOTE ]

Returning to your original quote, I think we can see that the Federal government enacting a prohibition on online interstate or intercountry gambling would, in fact, change the state of gambling law dramatically. While Texas law can be read to allow private online gambling on a rake-free site, the Feds would strip that priveledge from Texans.

The Goodelatt bill and other similar efforts to crack down on online gambling are, in fact, yet another power grab by the federal government. Whatever happened to states rights?

Existing state laws that prohibit gambling usually are not brought to bear against people gambling in the privacy of their homes. With rare exceptions, if you wanted to play poker with your friends, or bridge, or gin rummy, etc ..., then you were able to do so with no fear of prosecution.

The Feds intend to come into our homes and spy on our games. That is downright Orwellian!

Benjamin