To Regulate or to Prohibit: An Analysis of the Internet Gambling Industry and the Need for a Decision on the Industry's Future in the United States
![handle is hein.journals/conjil21 and id is 343 raw text is: TO REGULATE OR TO PROHIBIT: AN ANALYSIS OF
THE INTERNET GAMBLING INDUSTRY AND THE
NEED FOR A DECISION ON THE INDUSTRY'S
FUTURE IN THE UNITED STATES
Joseph J. McBurney*
INTRODUCTION
The rise of the Internet has posed several serious policy questions for
lawmakers both in the United States and abroad, but one situation that has not fully
been addressed is what to do with Internet gambling. The explosion of Internet
gambling in the past decade has caught officials in the United States off guard and
forced courts to improvise and cobble together precedent based on statutes and case
law, neither of which are on point.1 There has been an increase in the number of
Internet gambling web sites, magazines related to Internet gambling, and television
shows that involve gambling in general. There are even poker web sites that teach
people how to play or that allow people to play for free. Pari-mutuel horse racing
aside, it is currently illegal both for Internet gambling companies to operate in the
United States and for people in the United States to place bets on the Internet.2
The 1961 Wire Act (18 U.S.C. §1084) prohibits the use of wire
communications to transmit bets or information that assists in placing wagers on
sporting events and under its auspices, making Internet gambling illegal in the
United States. However, many Internet gambling sites operate in other nations.3 A
site operating in another nation can be accessed from anywhere in the world,
making Internet gambling available to Americans regardless of preexisting laws.4
Since the Wire Act refers to bets or wagers on any sporting event or contest5 and
does not mention casino games, some argue the government has reason to avoid a
courtroom showdown [regarding online gambling].6 Federal courts have never
* J.D., University of Connecticut School of Law, expected 2007; B.A. (Politics) The Catholic
University of America, 2004. I would like to thank my family and friends, especially my parents, for
their love and encouragement. I would also like to thank Siddharth Fernandes and Carolyn Ennis for
their editorial assistance, as well as Mary Welsh for her support and revisions.
1. See I. NELSON ROSE & MARTIN D. OWENS, JR., INTERNET GAMING LAW: GAMBLING AND
THE LAW 3-7 (2005) (discussing the laws for bettors and for operators).
2. Anna Palmer, An Online Bettors Paradise: As Revenues Soar, Will Casinos Want A Cut of
the Action?, LEGAL TIMES, Feb. 6, 2006, at 1.
3. Tom Weir, Online Sports Betting Spins Out of Control, USA TODAY, Aug. 22, 2003,
reprinted in LEGALIZED GAMBLING 78, 79 (David M. Haugen ed., 2006).
4. Id.
5. 18 U.S.C. § 1084 (2000).
6. Jason McClure, Hamstrung Feds Pursue Ad Dollars, Not Net Parlors, LEGAL TIMES, Feb. 6,
2006, at 1.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/conjil21&div=22&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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