Kansas Paper Makes Interesting Find
The Kansas City Star recently reported a very interesting article regarding the
new regulations set by the United States Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement
Act of 2006. This one little article is getting quite a bit of attention because
it claims that the US government may have just accidentally opened the door for
online casino play in the US. Now, it is not exactly making it wide open for
Americans to be able to take part in any of the online casinos available, but it
may just have opened a window instead of a door. The article in the Kansas City
Star is titled “Oops. Did Congress Accidentally Legalize Cyber Gambling?”
The newspaper posts an interesting opinion in this matter. They believe that the
wording of the newest regulations allows for intrastate cyber gambling at online
casinos. Apparently one of the new rules carves out a space for legal online
gambling for sovereign states or tribes that are authorized. The current laws
for online gambling prohibit online casinos but make it possible for US citizens
to participate in interstate state lottery and horse racing gambling online. The
text of these new online casino regulations are a bit tricky but if the reporter
at the Kansas City Star is correct, then we could accidentally be making some
progress in the legalization of online casino play in the United States.
The regulations that are in place for online casino play apparently exclude the
individual player from enforcement. This would mean that the commercial
companies are the ones that would be able to be prosecuted for criminal
activity. "It therefore appears that individual states and tribes operating
gambling interests are quite free under these new rules to let the cyber dice
roll - and start raking in a new and lucrative category of tax dollars," says
the newspaper. Regardless of the outcome one thing is for sure, the US
government is going to have to decide whether to regulate online casinos. With
the current recession, the government may bend and regulate internet gambling in
order to benefit from taxes from the industry.