Internet Casinos in Trouble? The state of online gambling legality

A new online gambling bill could turn the online casino industry upside down. But is it really the end of Internet Casinos or just a short set back? The new bill makes it difficult for Amercians to transfer money into online gambling sites. After a long battle between Republicans and Democrats, a new bill dealing with internet casinos has been approved both by the Senate and the House of Representatives resulting in new anti online gambling measures getting into effect as soon as the President signs the new bill into law in the next few days. The bill will ban both American banks and American credit card companies from transferring money into Internet Casinos. The new law is considered to be a blow to the online casino industry who’s 50% of its revenues are estimated to come from North American clients. Some major online casinos and online poker rooms have announced that will retire their business from the United States as a result of the new law. One of those companies, PartyGaming – the world’s largest online casino and poker operator suffered major declines in their stock after the announcement. The grand majority of online casinos are based offshore from the U.S in places like Barbados and Antigua. Since these small countries’ income from taxing online gambling sites is a major revenue source, rumors in the business community suggest that some of them my turn in the WTO claiming that the new law contradicts international trade agreements that the United States had signed in the past. One thing important to remember is that online gambling legality in the United States is still vague. The new law only addresses depositing methods into internet casinos. Those who claim that internet casinos are illegal are basing their claims on an old law from 1961 who could be interpreted as prohibiting online gambling, however the opposition to that ruling say that since the internet did not exist in 1961 than the law cannot apply to Internet Casinos.