U.S. Enforcement Could Push Even Harder
Published: Friday, November 03, 2006 Online-Casinos.com
U.S. ENFORCEMENT COULD PUSH THE LEGAL ENVELOPE EVEN HARDER
British law firm says DoJ ‘emboldened’ by UIGEA
British legal company Tarlo Lyons has published a report reviewing the impact of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. In it, the company spells out the choices facing online gaming operators and the potential legal developments the industry is likely to face.
Raising the issue of companies having to close down their US-facing operations despite the fact that they are not contravening the law of their own licensing jurisdictions, Tarlo Lyons focuses on what it considers as the most important terms specifically defined in the Act: restricted transaction, unlawful internet gambling, bet or wager, financial transaction provider and designated payment system.
With regard to accepting egaming payments, the report states that operators are “prohibited from accepting any payment from customers if the gambling is illegal where either they or the customer is located. Thus, contrary to the view of some, this key provision in the 2006 Act is directed primarily at the gambling operator not the financial institutions servicing the sector”. However, it adds that US Department of Justice (DoJ) would consider it an aiding and abetting offence by any payment provider to knowingly process such transactions.
The report then mentions the procedures to identify and prevent restricted transactions, civil remedies and criminal penalties available to US authorities, whether a UK resident involved in online gaming can be extradited and what the procedures entail. It also places the UK-US extradition law into context law and what the future holds for the whole sector.
The report concludes that legal analysis may find loopholes in the new law, but the DoJ will be emboldened by the effects of the Act, having forced numerous operators and service providers out of the US market.
It also brings up the UK approach to online gaming, saying it views “gambling as a legitimate leisure pastime” and that the “UK and US governments appear to be in direct conflict on the issue of internet gambling and it will be interesting to see what effect the US government has on influencing UK policy in the coming months, if any”.
