UIGEA in the Courtrooms Again:1

There is a big debate going on regarding the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. As we reported in earlier articles the State of Kentucky has been working hard on cracking down on online casino rings running out of their state. The Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association is giving it their all to try to overturn the legislature set by the United States federal government that made online casinos and internet gambling illegal. The highly publicized battles that have taken place in the Kentucky courtrooms to try to bring down international online casino operations are also in question.

In late September, the legal team of iMEGA filed a claim to try to get the UIGEA declared unconstitutional by the Judge Mary Cooper. The claims were filed with the Third Court Circuit. The way that something like this works is that the US government has a deadline in which they must provide a response to iMEGA’s claims that prohibiting online casinos is unconstitutional. Once the United State’s Federal Government decides on a response to the claims, the legal team representing iMEGA has 15 days to submit their counter argument against the response given by the government on the issue of the online casino.

This would not be the end of the process. The arguments brought forward by both parties regarding the legality of the online casino in the United States would be looked over by a panel of judges who then decide the fate of the case. The government recently filed their response and it will surely cause a stir once the public and any online casino enthusiast who lives in the United States reads what they have to say. One of the main points that the federal government refuted was iMEGA’s claims that the UIGEA is vague. While the federal government begs to differ saying that the act is, “perfectly clear: It prohibits the knowing acceptance of financial instruments in connection with gambling when the bet in question is illegal in the place it was made or received.”