The Latest Developments on the US Gambling Ban

One of the touchiest subjects, at least for anyone now living in the United States, is that of online gambling. While being federally illegal for a long time, technically and controversially, it has widely been ignored by federal law enforcement officers. There has been no enforcement of online gambling laws and therefore online gambling has gone virtually unchecked in the United States.

Recently though there has been a push to categorically outlaw the practice and provide penalties to companies that provide an online gambling service to United States residents. Some of the latest developments on the US gambling ban is the continued pressure on offshore online gambling facilities on islands such as Antigua and Barbados. What many of the employees of these companies fear is that if the US cracks down on online gambling a significant portion of their revenue will be lost causing unemployment throughout these small countries.

This is unfortunately a possible reality if legislation does go through that effectively stops all online gambling in the United States. US residents are addicted to online gambling, it seems, and contribute a substantial portion of the revenue going into the coffers of the online gambling industry.

Another one of the latest developments on the US gambling ban is the steps that the World Trade Organization is taking to stop just such legislation. There is an argument that halting online gambling would be a violation of free trade. This is certainly is not advantageous politically and is something that the current US administration would certainly not like to be regarded as being involved in.

There are arguments on both sides of the fence and any player currently living in the United States that has a penchant for online gambling would be well advised to stay tuned for the latest developments on the US gambling ban.

Posted: April 24, 2007