These readings contain a lot of small
articles and
commentary, so don’t be daunted by the size of this assignment.
Within the past month, the
Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act
of 2006 (UIGEA) was passed by Congress. However, before we get to the
details of UIGEA, it is important to keep in mind that UIGEA does not
substantively define unlawful gambling. UIGEA simply places restrictions on
using the Internet to place any bet or wager that is otherwise made
illegal by virtue of existing federal or state laws that may or may not
refer to the Internet. By UIGEA terms, it can not be violated
unless there is a violation of an already existing state or federal Law
that makes gambling illegal.
Thus, in order to understand what
constitutes unlawful internet gambling within the Act, we need to read
about what constitutes unlawful gambling (not just internet gambling)
under appropriate state and federal law.
Please read pg. 1-34,
42-44 of
this GAO report. It provides the background into illegal
gambling
(note in PDF
format, the pages are 5-38 and 46-48).
Here is a
brief case that deals
with the interpretation of the Wire Act:
Next is a
NY case that offers a detailed explanation regarding what constitutes
proper personal jurisdiction and subject matter jurisdiction against an
internet
gambling
provider: People
ex rel. Vacco
v. World Interactive Gaming Corp., 185
Misc.2d 852 (N.Y. Cnty. Sup. Ct. 1999).
Now we finally proceed into the new law, UIGEA. UIGEA was added as Title VIII of a completely unrelated bill, the Safe Port Act, HR 4954, which deals with port security. According to Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ), at the time of passage, no one on the Senate-House Conference Committee had even seen the final language of the UIGEA. The UIGEA essentially tries stop internet gambling by outlawing credit-card and money-transfer companies from accepting payments to gambling Web sites. Remember this law is not intended to be construed as “altering, limiting, or extending any Federal or State law or Tribal-State compact prohibiting, permitting, or regulating gambling within the United States”.
Some good articles discussing the reactions of this Act are:
Peter Harrison, Firms
flee U.S. gambling with $1 buyout
and Pete Harrison, Online casinos
moving to Caribbean after U.S. ban.
Do you think this act will succeed? Reconsider your answer after you take a look at this site, addressing the other possible options of depositing money into offshore internet gambling accounts.
Next, visit the two most popular poker sites and read their reaction to UIGEA Why the difference of opinion?
http://www.pokerstars.com/legislation/uigea/
Changing
subjects, as discussed in previous
articles, US law
has run afoul of the WTO and free trade rules. Providing
gambling service is a trade. In the US Schedule of
commitments within the WTO's General Agreement on Trade in Services, the US has agreed to open up trade of
this service
to other countries within the WTO. Read
this summary
of the WTO case and pages 1-20 of the
original report, to get an idea of what Antigua and Barbuda are
arguing
(note in
PDF format, the pages are pages 15-34).
What do you think of the argument
by Antigua and
Barbuda? In order to comply with the WTO,
what
must the US do? What do you think
of the US position that existing criminal statutes prohibit the
interstate
transmission of bets or wagers, including wagers on horse races? Remember that www.youbet.com is a
publicly listed company on the NASDQ, well within the reach of DOJ
enforcement.
As we conclude, please tell me what your thoughts
are
regarding these two legal gambling sites.
Is there any purpose in banning some forms of gambling, while
legalizing
others?
http://www.oregonlottery.org/sports/howto.php
For your blog comment, you may want to think of possible solutions. If you want to review the approach of other countries, go to pages 17-19 of this previously mentioned GAO report (note in PDF format, the pages are 21-23).
One article, not provided, mentioned that banning internet gambling is similar to prohibition. What are your thoughts? If you think internet gambling should be outlawed, what do you think about banning other compulsive activities such as drinking or smoking, or even shopping? Where would you draw the line?