Sports gambling laws
Sports betting laws differ from place to place. In the US, sports gambling is considered illegal practically in most states save a few like Nevada, Montana etc. The legality and general acceptance of sports betting is extremely regulated in several European countries though not criminalized, but Europeans need to know the best way to bet tax-free – great info at GertGambell.net. “Sports gambling” is regarded by legalized sports gambling proponents as being a sports hobby for sports enthusiasts to increase their interest in a sporting event thus being a big benefit to leagues, teams and players etc.
There are plenty of sites that are reputable that will not allow US citizens to bet through them although with the advent of the internet and offshore gambling websites it is getting tough to govern the sports gambling activities of Americans. For quite a while the US argued against the online gambling legalities 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 had not been yet invented during those times, legal experts today question whether regulations actually pertained to the internet services or not.
The Justice Department of America however claimed the Wire Act did refer to all types 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 with this was the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that prohibited US citizens from usage of electronic fund transfer or checks, credit cards etc to fund any internet betting activity.
The thing that was important was the fact that the act dealt just with the funding of internet gambling accounts and not the specific placing of the bet. Thus an online betting law attorney Lawrence Walters stated that the bill that was passed had no effect on the betting activity of the person but centered only on the restriction of certain transactions that were financial and relating to the banks and internet gambling sites. Thus the bill failed to make internet gambling illegal nevertheless it made funding ones bet or wager on the web sites illegal criminalizing the financial transaction instead of the actual 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 Rep.es McDermott introduced the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act to control betting sites online and collect tax on all bets made.
The nation of Antigua and Barbuda in 2003 registered a complaint against the US with the World Trade Organization the US (based upon their sports gambling laws and ban on gambling on the internet) violated their WTO rights. The WTO ruled for 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 United States copyright and trademark laws.