Internet Gambling Legality

May 11th, 2005 • Related • Filed Under

Though this site is not really dedicated to Poker or gambling online, as a law student this semester I completed a course in CyberLaw in which I wrote a fairly comprehensive (its 40 pages) report on the legality of Internet gambling in the United States. Granted this paper was written much more from the perspective of owning an off-shore casino, you might find it an interesting read none the less.

If you are going to skip most of it, I would recommend reading the section on Jay Cohen (the founder of the World Sports Exchange), the only person to be convicted in a jury trial of operating an off-shore casino. You might also find it interesting to read about how the US lost at the recent WTO dispute panel to Antigua and what it means for the future of Internet gambling.

I offer you the paper here for your perusal, any comments or feedback would be greatly appreciated. If you’re looking for the real bottom line, well there isn’t one, basically as of now it is illegal to gamble at an off-shore casino but nobody gets prosecuted for doing so, it is the advertising and use of credit cards to gamble online that the government wishes to limit.

Anyway, here you go, again any comments would be appreciated. Pocket Aces - Internet Gambling Legality In The USA - Requires Adobe Acrobat to read.

If you have a second, please drop a comment below and vote in the poll to your right - Thanks!

For further information on this subject, you should check out Judi Kelly’s new news clipping service site Gambling Licenses and Professor I. Nelson Rose’s site Gambling and The Law.

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There Are 20 Responses So Far. »

  1. Comment by Brian on 11 May 2005:

    Wow, long but an amazing read. You should consider submitting this to some poker sites, I bet (sorry about the pun) a ton of people would like to read it.

    Good work!

  2. Comment by Alice on 11 May 2005:

    Thanks for posting this, I am going to read it tonight. Hoping you get an A :-)

  3. Comment by Dealer Dan on 11 May 2005:

    Great post definately going to link to it.

  4. Comment by Joe Sans on 11 May 2005:

    As a felow law student, this was an amazing read. You should consider submitting it to some law journals (specifically the ones you reference in your footers). Good work though, I thought it was really well written.

  5. Comment by Gambler's Anonymous on 12 May 2005:

    Great read, have you sent it to some of the poker blogs? I am sure they would like to share it with their readers.

  6. Comment by JD on 16 May 2005:

    Very interesting paper, thanks for posting it.

  7. Comment by Vincent on 16 May 2005:

    Great read. Good luck for the future.

  8. Comment by Judi on 16 May 2005:

    Michael, excellent work. I know how long it takes, and how difficult it is to find out internet gambling laws and licensing, as this is part of my business. Am yet to review thoroughly, but on first scan your research is very good.

  9. Comment by Michael G. Cohen on 16 May 2005:

    Thanks to all for your kind words….

    If anyone has questions or would like further information I am more than happy to address any posed here in the comments section below. Thanks again

  10. Comment by Prof. I. Nelson Rose on 17 May 2005:

    Thanks for the referral to Gambling And The Law. Your paper looks good.

    On at least one issue we disagree: I wrote a column (not yet published) on the WTO decision. If anyone wants a copy, send me an email. Also, I recently co-authored a book on the Law of Internet Gaming.

    Michael, I look forward to meeting you in person.

    Nelson

  11. Comment by Irwin on 17 May 2005:

    Michael, thank you for your terrific paper.

    I know it may be a lot to ask, but I was wondering if you have a document with just your sources in it (your footnotes). I would like to follow some of them and this would make it much easier.

    Thanks,

    Irwin

  12. Comment by Paul Siegel on 17 May 2005:

    Nice work! You have provided a comprehensive analysis of the issues, with cogent citations. I’ve spent the past five years as VP of Global Cyber Licensing, a high-tech company that uses the Global Positioning System to determine the physical location of gamblers on the Internet. Many of the legal difficulties you mention could be eliminated through the adoption of our service. Individual U.S. states could license operators to provide wholly instate online casinos, and the fact that Global Cyber is capable of “locking out” participation from beyond a state’s political borders removes the Wire Act (and all Federal jurisdiction) from the equation. You also mention the Yahoo! suit in France. Our parent company–CyberLocator Inc.–presented an amicus brief to the presiding judge (available via a Google search) that would have ostensibly solved their difficulties.

  13. Comment by Michael G. Cohen on 17 May 2005:

    Interesting concept Paul…I am going to definately search for the brief.

    My initial question considering the extensive new privacy laws in Canada would be how does your company deal with privacy concerns and the different privacy laws in each nation?

  14. Comment by P man on 18 May 2005:

    This is about offshore gambling in reference to canada? But who the hell cares about canada????

  15. Comment by fun160 on Party Poker on 18 May 2005:

    Thanks for an excellent treatment of an evolving subject.

    I called my mom on Mother’s Day and the subject of poker came up. I told her I’m playing online and someday hope to quit my job and turn pro.

    She asked if it was legal. I’m going to forward Pocket Aces to her. I’m sure it will make her feel better.

  16. Comment by Jane on 18 May 2005:

    Actually P Man, if you read even the title you would have known it was written about the United States.

    Great job Michael.

    Jane

  17. Comment by fun160 on Party Poker on 18 May 2005:

    P Man: This is about offshore gambling in reference to canada?

    No offense, but are you a victim of Outcomes-Based Education? Did you happen to read the article or even the title? A Comprehensive Look at the Legality of Off-Shore Internet Gambling within the United States.

    P Man: But who the hell cares about canada????

    Canadians and fans of hockey and beer, eh?

  18. Comment by Martin Owens on 19 May 2005:

    Dear Mr. Cohen,

    A solid effort, doubly impressive from a law student. I had the honor to co-author INTERNET GAMING LAW with Professor Nelson Rose ( book came out in April), and many of your comments are an interesting extension of issues that were arising as the book was locked down at the publishers.

    I hope you will contact me and we can discuss such issues further

    Best of luck meantime

    Martin Owens

  19. Comment by Pete Grillo on 6 June 2005:

    Dear Mr. Cohen,
    I would love to ask you some questions via closed/private forum, ie. personal email. If you get the chance and read this post please shoot me an email and I’ll respond w/questions. Thank You for this wonderful read…you’ll have to let me know what your Professor/Teachers response was.

  20. Comment by Moneyball on 7 June 2005:

    Thanks to everyone for your comments and reading my paper. I am only half happy to report that I got a B+ on the paper. As it was considered a final, I have not received it back, but I have emailed my professor seeking feedback. It’s pretty tough to get an A at my school with only 5% of the class receiving such a grade, but I thought this was some of my better work. By contrast, I received an A on the paper on this site on MLB’s Anti-Trust exemption and so did my collegue Evan Gold for his work on whether the NHL’s proposed salary cap is legal.

    As always, please do not hesitate to leave your thoughts, opinions and comments on this or any other post.

    Thanks for visiting.

    Michael

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