LA Times Article Attacks Online Gambling Ban

Proposals to ease online gaming restrictions were recently introduced in the United States Congress, amid calls for well-defined online gambling legislation and the taxation of internet gambling.

Against this background, Pulitzer prize-winning financial journalist, Michael Hiltzik, has written a damning analysis of the United States' internet gambling regulations. He also called for the legalization of the industry. The article appeared in the LA Times on October 19, 2009.

Double Standards
Hiltzik opposes the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Ban, which prohibited internet betting. Online gamblers in the United States will probably support his argument that gambling laws in the country are inconsistent, confusing and hypocritical.

Hiltzik says the laws vary between states and are too harsh in many.  The state of Washington, for example, puts the "crime" of betting on online poker in the same felony classification as rape. In 2002, all five states that had banned online gambling permitted gambling at real-life casinos - a hint of double standards?

Chaos
Hiltzik described the confusion caused by the online gambling ban, based on a 1961 law outlawing the use of telecommunication services for placing bets. In reality, the ban has been applied only to sports betting and excludes skills games. This leaves the status of online poker in doubt, as many people consider poker a game of skill.

Furthermore, banks and financial institutions will find themselves in an administrative quagmire after December 1, 2010, when they are expected to start the mammoth task of checking all financial transactions for signs of online gambling activity.

Hiltzik finished by stating that online gambling will continue in the US, with or without legalization. The only things achieved by criminalizing it is to leave players without legal protection, allow foreign casinos to operate without accountability, and to deny the state billions of dollars in tax revenue.