by Renee Israel
The AGA (American Gaming Association),
an organization that represents the gambling industry in the United States, has
responded to the Department of Justice's interpretation of the Wire Act
and its stance on online gambling.
In a long overdue move, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) finally made
public its interpretation of the archaic Wire Act of 1961, making a clear
statement regarding online gambling and online poker, claiming the latter did
not fall under the law.
The AGA is now seeking federal legislation for online casino gambling and
online poker. According to the AGA, "The Department of Justice's interpretation
regarding the scope of the federal Wire Act validates the urgent need for
federal legislation to curb what will now be a proliferation of domestic and
foreign unlicensed and unregulated gambling websites without consistent
regulatory standards and safeguards against fraud, underage gambling and money
laundering."
DoJ's Wire Act Interpretation Reprieves Online Poker
In the announcement which was welcomed by all sections of the online poker
playing community, the DoJ stated that the Act applied only to sports betting
and that online poker did not come under the purview of this law.
While this announcement clears the air about one part of online poker's legal
status, it remains silent on other legislation that is potentially more relevant
for the future of online poker.
The DoJ's present clarification deals only the Wire Act and does not examine
it in conjunction with the Unlawful Internet
Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), the law that has effectively banned
online gambling in the United States.
More specifically, this clarification only gives a green signal to the states
of New York and Illinois to proceed with their proposed legislation to launch
lottery sales on the internet. These two states asked the DoJ to comprehensively
clarify the meaning of the Wire Act and that of the UIGEA, individually and in
relationship to each other.
The Wire Act is a piece of legislation whose intent has been debated for
years, and finally the DoJ has categorically stated that online poker is not in
violation of this Act.
However, if the government does not quickly and equally clarify its reading
of the UIGEA, organizations lobbying for online poker feel that it would lead to
a mushrooming of state level legislation resulting in a fractured landscape for
nation-wide online poker.
The AGA is looking to prevent this situation and are trying to implement
"federal legislation that protects states' rights, establish uniform safeguards
to protect US consumers, keep children from gambling on the Internet and provide
the tools law enforcement needs to shut down illegal Internet gambling
operators."
What this will mean for the UK gambling market and the international gambling
market at large, will remain to be seen.
