Gambling on the Internet
By Catherine Sansum Kirkman
Forget that trip to Las Vegas -- you can now gamble in cyberspace without ever leaving home, and you have over six hundred sites to choose from, according to the latest count. But is gambling on the Internet legal? In most cases, it is probably illegal in the United States, but it thrives nonetheless because of a law enforcement problem. Internet gambling is very difficult to regulate due to the high-tech nature of today's cyber-casinos, which use encryption technology and offshore operations to elude prosecution.
There are three federal laws that make online gambling illegal in the United States. These statutes were enacted to cover gambling activities that cross state lines, and they exist in addition to state laws on gambling operations within state borders.
Under the Federal Interstate Wire Act:
Whoever being engaged in the business of betting or wagering knowingly uses a wire-communication facility for the transmission in interstate or foreign commerce of bets or wagers or information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers on any sporting event or contest, or for the transmission of a wire communication which entitles the recipient to receive money or credit as a result of bets or wagers, or for information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.
Gambling over the Internet would qualify as the use of a "wire communication facility" for the placing of bets or wagers.
