Sports betting laws and regulations
Sports gambling laws are different from country to country. In the United States, sports gambling is considered illegal practically in most states save a few like Nevada, Montana etc. The legality and general acceptance of sports gambling is highly regulated in numerous European countries though not criminalized, but Europeans must know how to bet tax free – great info at GertGambell.net. “Sports gambling” is regarded by legalized sports gambling proponents as a sports hobby for sports fans to enhance their interest in a sporting event thus being a big benefit to leagues, teams and players etc.
There are many sites that are reputable that will not allow US residents to bet through them but with the appearance of the internet and offshore gambling sites it truly is getting tough to govern the sports gambling actions of Americans. For quite a while the United States argued against the online gambling legalities by citing the Interstate Wire Act of 1961 passed to stop sports gambling activities between the states by using wire containing devices and the telephone. Because the internet had not been yet invented at that time, legal experts today question whether the law actually pertained to the internet services or not.
The Justice Department of the US however claimed the Wire Act did relate to all forms of online or internet gambling. In 2006, The congress wrote the SAFE Port Act and passed it to increase the US port security. Attached with this was the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that prohibited US residents from usage of electronic fund transfer or checks, credit cards etc to finance any internet gambling activity.
The thing that was important was the reality that the act dealt just with the funding of internet gambling accounts and not the specific placing of the bet. Thus an Internet betting law attorney Lawrence Walters stated that this bill that was passed didn’t have effect on the betting activity of the individual but centered only on the restriction of specific transactions which were financial and concerning the banks and internet gambling sites. Thus the bill did not make internet gambling illegal nevertheless it made funding ones bet or wager on the internet sites illegal criminalizing the financial transaction instead of the specific act of betting by the individual.
Rep Barney Frank then introduced in 2007, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act as a way to legalize internet sports gambling and also at the same time frame Rep.es McDermott introduced the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act to control betting sites on the web 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 in their favor and though the US appealed the original 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.
