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On the Friday before the Christmas weekend, the Department of Justice revealed that it has changed one of its most important and long-held positions on Internet gambling, stating that the federal Wire Act of 1961 only applies to Sports Betting. The new position on the Wire Act marks a huge shift for the Justice Department, which has long relied on the law when asserting that all forms of Internet gambling, especially online poker, is illegal.
“The Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (“OLC”) has analyzed the scope of the Wire Act, 18 U.S.c § 1084, and concluded that it is limited only to Sports Betting,” U.S. Deputy Attorney General James Cole wrote in a letter on Friday.
There are potentially far-reaching consequences to the government’s new position on the Wire Act, which is a huge victory for state lotteries that hope to use the Internet to sell lottery tickets to adults in their states. New York’s lottery division and the Illinois governor’s office had asked in 2009 for the Justice Department’s view regarding their plans to use the Internet. In a 13-page legal opinion written by Assistant Attorney General Virginia Seitz and dated September 20, the Justice Department says “nothing in the materials supplied by the Criminal Division suggests that the New York or Illinois lottery plans involve sports wagering, rather than garden-variety lotteries. Accordingly, we conclude that the proposed lotteries are not within the prohibitions of the Wire Act.”
For years the Department of Justice’s criminal division argued that the application of the Wire Act went far beyond sports wagering. The previous position not only impacted state lotteries, it played an important role in the Justice Department’s ongoing legal battle with offshore online gambling firms, particularly those that offer for-money online poker to U.S. players. As recently as 2007, then U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway said in congressional testimony that the Wire Act applied to all Internet gambling. “The Department of Justice’s view is and has been for some time that all forms of Internet gambling, including sports wagering, casino games and card games, are illegal under federal law. While many of the federal statutes do not use the term ‘Internet gambling,’ we believe that the statutory language is sufficient to cover it,” Hanaway said. “As we have stated on previous occasions, the department interprets existing federal statues, including 18 U.S.C. Sections 1084, 1952, and 1955, as pertaining to and prohibiting Internet gambling.”
SOURCE & ENTIRE STORY FORBES
So lotteries will come online first then it's all on for casinos next!!
WHETHER PROPOSALS BY ILLINOIS AND NEW YORK TO USE THE
INTERNET AND OUT-OF-STATE TRANSACTION PROCESSORS TO SELL
LOTTERY TICKETS TO IN-STATE ADULTS VIOLATE THE WIRE ACT
http://www.justice.gov/olc/2011/state-lotteries-opinion.pdf
“The Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (“OLC”) has analyzed the scope of the Wire Act, 18 U.S.c § 1084, and concluded that it is limited only to Sports Betting,” U.S. Deputy Attorney General James Cole wrote in a letter on Friday.
There are potentially far-reaching consequences to the government’s new position on the Wire Act, which is a huge victory for state lotteries that hope to use the Internet to sell lottery tickets to adults in their states. New York’s lottery division and the Illinois governor’s office had asked in 2009 for the Justice Department’s view regarding their plans to use the Internet. In a 13-page legal opinion written by Assistant Attorney General Virginia Seitz and dated September 20, the Justice Department says “nothing in the materials supplied by the Criminal Division suggests that the New York or Illinois lottery plans involve sports wagering, rather than garden-variety lotteries. Accordingly, we conclude that the proposed lotteries are not within the prohibitions of the Wire Act.”
For years the Department of Justice’s criminal division argued that the application of the Wire Act went far beyond sports wagering. The previous position not only impacted state lotteries, it played an important role in the Justice Department’s ongoing legal battle with offshore online gambling firms, particularly those that offer for-money online poker to U.S. players. As recently as 2007, then U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway said in congressional testimony that the Wire Act applied to all Internet gambling. “The Department of Justice’s view is and has been for some time that all forms of Internet gambling, including sports wagering, casino games and card games, are illegal under federal law. While many of the federal statutes do not use the term ‘Internet gambling,’ we believe that the statutory language is sufficient to cover it,” Hanaway said. “As we have stated on previous occasions, the department interprets existing federal statues, including 18 U.S.C. Sections 1084, 1952, and 1955, as pertaining to and prohibiting Internet gambling.”
SOURCE & ENTIRE STORY FORBES
So lotteries will come online first then it's all on for casinos next!!
WHETHER PROPOSALS BY ILLINOIS AND NEW YORK TO USE THE
INTERNET AND OUT-OF-STATE TRANSACTION PROCESSORS TO SELL
LOTTERY TICKETS TO IN-STATE ADULTS VIOLATE THE WIRE ACT
http://www.justice.gov/olc/2011/state-lotteries-opinion.pdf
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