Will Online Gambling be Legalized in the US?

Legalization of online gambling in the US, is still an unresolved issue. Initiatives regarding the matter started around 2 years back, but no solution has been found yet. In a New York Times article, the scenario pertaining to the legalization of online gambling has been put forward by Matt Richtel. There are many pending bills at the House of Representatives and the senate on this issue.

Increase of tax revenues, is an issue which the country is taking into consideration with regard to permitting online gambling.  But certain social groups are voicing protests against this. As a response to these protests, the government can show plenty of problem gambling measures. But the main question lies with the federal law. Does the federal law of the US allow online gambling?

The UIGEA act passed in the year 2006, prohibits any kind of financial transactions related to illegal gambling. But legal experts say that once online gambling is made legal, the clause of UIGEA will not hold good. A lawyer specializing in gambling related laws, Mark Hichar says that according to the act, amendments of the existing law structure are not possible. So, the prohibitions put by the Wire Act are still applicable.

The problems seem to have built up even more, with DoJ (Department of Justice) of the States taking action against the operators of online gambling. Similar actions were taken under the Wire Act as well. These factors are making the US rethink about the whole issue.

But lottery tickets are already sold in several states of the country. In this regard, there is no reason why online gambling cannot be legalized in the US. But still the issue is not clear cut. According to Hichar, since the DoJ gave clearance to the sell of lottery tickets, does not necessarily imply that it will follow the same path of action in case of online gambling. .

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