Sports betting laws and regulations
Sports gambling laws differ from place to place. In the US, sports gambling is considered illegal practically in most states save some like Nevada, Montana etc. The legality and general acceptance of sports betting is extremely regulated in numerous European countries though not criminalized, but Europeans need to know how to bet tax free – great info at GertGambell.net. “Sports gambling” is considered by legalized sports gambling proponents as being a sports hobby for sports fans to enhance their interest in a sporting event thus becoming a big benefit to leagues, teams and players etc.
There are many sites that are reputable that do not allow US citizens to bet through them but with the appearance of the internet and offshore gambling websites it truly is getting more tough to govern the sports gambling actions of Americans. For quite a while the US argued against the internet gambling legal issues by citing the Interstate Wire Act of 1961 passed to stop sports gambling activities between states by making use of wire containing devices along with the telephone. Considering that the internet was not yet invented during those times, legal experts today question whether the law actually pertained to the net services or not.
The Justice Department of America however claimed the Wire Act did refer to all forms of online or internet gambling. In 2006, The congress wrote the SAFE Port Act and passed it to raise the United States port security. Attached to it was the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that prohibited US citizens from utilization of electronic fund transfer or checks, credit cards etc to fund any internet gambling activity.
The thing that was important was the fact that the act dealt only with the funding of internet betting accounts rather than the specific placing of the bet. Therefore an online gambling law attorney Lawrence Walters stated that this bill that was passed didn’t have impact on the betting activity of the individual but focused only on the restriction of certain transactions that were financial and concerning the banks and internet gambling sites. Thus the bill did not make internet gambling illegal but it made funding ones bet or wager on the web sites illegal criminalizing the financial transaction instead of the specific act of betting by way of the individual.
Rep Barney Frank then introduced in 2007, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act in order to legalize internet sports gambling and also at the same time Rep.es McDermott introduced the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act to regulate betting sites online and collect tax on all bets made.
The country of Antigua and Barbuda in 2003 registered a complaint against the US with the World Trade Organization that the US (based on their sports gambling laws and ban on betting on the internet) violated their WTO rights. The WTO ruled for their favor and though the United States appealed the initial ruling was upheld on plenty of occasions. The WTO awarded Antigua and Barbuda trade sanctions worth $21 million as well as the right to penalize the US copyright and trademark laws.