The fact of whether online gambling is legal or not for you is up to debate, so we cannot offer legal counsel in this area, but in the meantime you should not have any trouble gambling online.
Australian Casino Law
Australia is one of the few countries in the world to have already enacted legislation designed specifically for online gambling.
On 28 June 2000 the Interactive Gambling Bill became law.
The legislation:
It is illegal for any interactive gambling service provider based outside Australia (including online casinos, sports books, race betting sites, lotteries etc) to offer its product to Australian residents.
It is illegal for any Australian based online casino to offer its product to:
1. Australian residents.
2. Residents of any country around the world that chooses to opt in on the Australian Government's restriction. " it is illegal to advertise any interactive gambling service on any medium within Australia (including 'Australian' web sites).
It is legal for Australian licensed online sports books, race betting and lottery sites to offer their product to Australian and international customers;
It is clear that the legislation is aimed at the casino/sports book operators and not players. The Australian Government is now faced with the very arduous undertaking of trying to put into effect this legislation.
US Gambling Law
Regulation of gambling in the United States was left up until reasonably recently, entirely to the State Legislatures, who determined the legality or otherwise of gambling activities within their jurisdiction. As a result the law depended on what was thought of gambling in each area. Some states have legalized many forms of gambling, while others have made it illegal to participate in any form of gambling other then the stats lottery. Nevada is the clear example of a State that has adopted gambling as a legal form of business, apposed to Utah, which is well - known for its strong anti - gambling attitude, and laws within its jurisdiction make all forms of gambling illegal.
US State gambling laws were all drafted long before the advent of the Internet, and they do not have provisions dealing specifically with online gambling.
US Federal Gambling Laws
Specific online gambling laws
Up to now, US Government attempts to pass laws dealing exclusively with online gambling have been unsuccessful. Separate Bills sponsored by Sen. Kyle and Rep. Goodlatte, which both attempted to forbid online gambling both failed to attract the required 2/3 majority Senate vote required to become law. And while it is likely that there will be more attempts to pass new laws dealing with web based gambling, until such an attempt will succeed, existing federal legislation serves as the only guide on this matter.
Existing Federal Laws
Although passed not long ago, US federal laws applying gambling activities were all written before the advent of Internet gambling. Federal laws relating to gambling were passed by Congress more recently (than State laws) to deal with inconsistencies in State based gambling laws, especially as they applied to interstate commerce. There are a number of current federal laws that have indirect influence on online gambling. We bring them below.
There are 4 Statutes that contain factors that could be construed to apply to Internet gambling. The Interstate Transportation of Wagering Paraphernalia Act, The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, The Federal Aiding and Abetting Statute
The Wire Wager Act is the ruling that may be applied most directly to put a ceiling on the use of the Internet to gamble. It prohibits the use of a wire transmission facility to foster a gambling pursuit. It provides, in part:
"Whoever being engaged in the business of betting or wagering knowingly uses a wire communication facility for the transmission in interstate or foreign commerce of bets or wagers or information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers on any sporting event or contest, or for the transmission of a wire communication which entitles the recipient to receive money or credit as a result of bets or wagers, or for information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both."
Exactly how and to what extent this Act applies to web gambling is passionately debated. One school of thought in legal circles is that the Wire Act largely covers any interstate use of the Internet that is correlated with placing or receiving bets. A second school of thought is that the Wire Wager Act cannot be applied to online gambling generally for two reasons. First, the words "wire communication facility" only apply to transmissions that use wires and the proliferation of wireless Internet access would therefore fall outside the range of the Act. Second, reference to "bets or wagers on any sporting event or contest" implies the Act might only be relevant to wagering upon sporting events (not games based upon chance, like card games and others).
The above issues aside, it is apparent that whether or not the Wire Wager Act can be functional when it comes to Internet gambling, it can only be applied to those "being engaged in the business of betting or wagering." It cannot affect the online gambler or Internet service providers.
Keeping in mind the questionable validity with regard to their application to online gambling, and also the fact that US prosecutors will always have a difficult time finding the defendants and actually bringing them to the United States to stand trial, it is obvious why actual prosecutions in the US in this area are extremely rare.
Hopefully legislation will soon be enacted to unambiguous what is at present a very gray legal area.
UK Online Gambling Law
The following review of the current legal situation with relevance to Internet gambling in the UK is extracted from a report to the Home Secretary issued by The Gaming Board of Great Britain. For the full paper, click here.
"British gambling legislation - apart from that setting up the National Lottery - is all over a quarter of a century old and was enacted at a time when the power of the Internet could not have been imagined. Unsurprisingly therefore, that legislation impinges on Internet gambling in ways which were unintended and are erratic. In broad terms, the position, as the Board understands it, is as follows.
Betting Bookmakers have for many years been able to accept telephone bets from clients with credit accounts. There is therefore nothing to prevent them accepting such bets by e-mail. Likewise, football pools have always been able to accept entries by post and can therefore also use e-mail. The reason why bookmakers have been choosing offshore locations for their telephone and Internet betting operations is because taxes are lower and not because such operations would be illegal here.
As for casino, bingo and gaming machines, such gaming can only take place on licensed and registered premises and, in particular, the persons taking part in the gaming must be on the premises at the time when the gaming takes place. Hence an operator who wished to offer such Internet gaming here could obtain no license and to set up such a site would be illegal. The Board has stated that it would seek to take action against anyone who did so.
The position with lotteries is more complicated. Tickets for lotteries can be sold almost anywhere other than in the street. They can be sold for instance at people's homes including over the telephone. But they cannot be sold by means of a machine. The Board's view is that a lottery run entirely by computer via the Internet amounts to selling tickets by means of a machine and it has refused to authorize such lotteries. However, lottery-managing companies with proposals to use the Internet to run lotteries in much the same way as someone might use the telephone have approached the Board. With these, the Internet is simply used as a means of communication by which one person offers another a lottery ticket and that second person agrees to buy. Two such proposals have been approved.
There is nothing in the legislation, which makes it illegal, or seeks to prevent, British residents gambling on the Internet from their own homes. The position in respect of public places such as Internet cafes is less clear and more difficult.
Overseas gambling operations are subject to restrictions on the extent to which they can advertise here. In the case of casino and similar gaming, this does not amount to a total ban but prevents advertisements which, to paraphrase, invite the public to subscribe money or to apply for information about facilities for subscribing money. Some Internet casino operators have begun to advertise within these constraints. Added complications arise because the whole question of what constitutes an advertisement on the Internet, and then what can or cannot be done if it is, remains far from clear. "
Although the above summary represents the law as it currently stands in the UK, it should be noted that moves are taking place to initiate legislation dealing specifically with online gambling.
In March 2002, a British Government reply to an independent review of Britain's restrictive gambling laws by Sir Alan Budd, a former chief economic adviser to the Treasury, said that the prohibition of online gambling to British consumers would be an entirely unrealistic objective, even if it were thought to be desirable.
"Instead, we will as the review person has proposed, move towards legalizing the provision of the full range of online gambling services by operators located in the UK, including gaming," it said.
We enthusiastically anticipate the release of this new legislation, and send warm regards to that member of the British Government.
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