The Federal Government’s Role in Regulating Online Gambling

Online Gambling is a term that includes casinos, sports betting, virtual poker and lotteries. These activities can be regulated through state laws, and federal law likewise reinforces or weakens those laws.

The Wire Act, for instance, prohibits illegal gambling on contests. It also makes it illegal to use interstate facilities for illegal gambling.

In addition, Section 1956 of the federal Criminal Code imposes a prohibition on laundering money from illegal gambling proceeds. Laundering is defined as the evasion of taxes or concealing the identity of the source of the proceeds.

Illegal gambling business owners are subject to fines, imprisonment, and forfeiture. For example, in United States v. K23 Group Financial Services, the government charged a company that operated an Internet poker operation with violating 18 U.S.C. 1957, which limits the amount of money that can be spent on illegal gambling in a single day.

Illegal online gambling is defined as placing bets on games or other events through the Internet and receiving or transmitting bets in violation of state or federal law. Additionally, UIGEA makes it illegal for a business to accept payment for gambling transactions that occur on the Internet.

There are two main laws that govern Internet gambling: the Wire Act and the UIGEA. Both are designed to protect consumers. The Wire Act prohibits illegal gambling on sporting events, while the UIGEA is designed to protect against the commercial activity of Internet gambling.

While the Wire Act and UIGEA have helped protect against the illegal operation of Internet gambling, there are a number of other statutes that can be used to penalize online gambling. A few of these include the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) provisions.