Friday, August 31, 2012

Legality Of Online Sports Betting In United States

By George Smith


At present, online sport gambling is now a fascination for many, with more and more people indulging in this type of online gambling than in other traditional gambling games. Gambling is now a worldwide phenomenon with most countries establishing laws to legalize and regulate it. The picture is always going to be a bit unclear because of the disagreement considering what law actually states until the online cleared up. The lawfulness of Internet sports gambling can seem to be a complicated problem for residents of the United States and for valid reason. To better understand the legality question, it's best to have a look at some history of anti-gambling legislation. Even more, for a number of years the United States argued against the legality of Internet sports gambling by citing the Interstate Wire Act, which was passed to prohibit sports betting between states by using the telephone or other wire-containing devices.

Sports gambling between states by use of telephone or other wire-containing devices were banned by citing the Interstate Wire Act in the United States for many years. Furthermore, the Internet had yet to be invented, a couple legal experts questioned if the law pertained to the Internet or not. Even more, the other question that arose from the Wire Act were if it pertained to all forms of gambling or just wagering on sporting events. In 2002, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals preserved a ruling in Louisiana that dismissed a lawsuit brought by two Internet gamblers against credit card companies after running up debts by making bets on casino games. In the dismissal, the court ruled the Wire Act was only pertinent to sporting events.

On the contrary, the United States Justice Department saw things differently however, and claimed the Wire Act related to all forms of Internet betting. The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana settled. In dismissing a 2004 case against the Justice Department brought by the managers of Casino City, a website that serves as a portal to gambling sites. The 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal.

In contrast, just before taking recess in 2006, Congress passed the SAFE Port Act, which was written to increase security of U.S. Port, but attached to the SAFE Port Act was the Unlawful Internet gambling Enforcement Act, which bans Americans from using credit cards, electronic funds transfers, or checks to finance Internet betting activity. It's essential to note, the act deals only with how Internet gambling accounts are funded, not the actual betting. The bill focuses on controlling certain financial transactions, requiring that banks identify and block transactions going through their servers and their systems, and demanding that the actual sites, the Internet gambling sites, review and manage these transactions. In contrast, on December 21, 2007, the WTO (World Trade Organization) awarded Antigua and Barbuda $21 million in trade sanctions, which will give the country of 80,000 the right to penalize U. S. trademark and copyright laws. The United States admitted that its stand on Internet betting was in violation of the WTO, but claimed Antigua should get less than $1 million. Further complicating things, at least as far as the WTO was concerned, was that the U.S. allows Internet sports gambling on horse racing within the country, and Antigua's trade sanctions will be allowed to continue until the U.S. allows Americans to bet with foreign gaming operators, or eliminates off-track wagering on the Internet.

The U.S. has also made some minor trade concessions to some countries, as well as the European Union, to shut out gambling services from a previously signed agreement in 1994 by reviewing the initial agreement. Betting on sports is now a fascination for many, with more and more people indulging in this type of online betting than in other traditional gambling games. Gambling is now a worldwide phenomenon with most countries establishing laws to legalize and control it.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment