Online Gambling Firms Examine Options In Wake Of US Crackdown

by Glen Shapiro, LawAndTax-News.com, New York

16 October 2003

As legislation designed to prohibit the use of credit cards, checks, and electronic fund transfers for the purposes of online gambling comes closer to enactment in the United States, techno-savvy gamblers and companies providing online gambling from offshore locations are examining their options.

According to the Web Host Industry Review (WHIR) news service, despite the relentless legal crackdown: "Creative gamblers have already figured out a way to beat the legislative effort by turning to a third party means to transfer money to alternative banking accounts, known as e-commerce pocketbooks, from which winnings or losses can be posted."

Many observers have suggested that rather than attempting to prohibit completely the use of online gambling services, the US government should consider regulating the industry, not least because of the amount of additional revenue that could be garnered as the result of such a move.

Speaking to the WHIR, expert in the field and attorney with Cooper Levenson April Niedelman & Wagenhein, Lynne Levin Kaufman suggested that:

"Just as land-based casinos submit themselves to regulation, the ISPs and sites would have to submit to regulation as a privilege of being able to host a gambling site. Still, many would view the monitoring as unacceptable encroachment, and the concern would be that limited monitoring could be abused."

The Department of Justice is also thought to oppose the idea of such regulation.

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