US Congress to ban online gambling

The US Congress, under pressure from the Las Vegas and other traditional

casinos, is preparing a bill banning online gambling. The US House of

Representatives has reached an agreement on the wording of a bill that would ban

most online gambling activities.

There are currently some 700 Web sites offering a broad variety of online

betting schemes. Last year, these Web sites raked in $1.2 billion in bets. The

fast growth of this sector has sent shock waves across the traditional gambling

industry. Besides losing customers, many bogus online sites are giving the

gambling industry a bad reputation.

Industry analysts questioned how effective any ban would be. Online casinos

can be set up easily off shore and many have been set up this way already. And,

any attempt to interfere with a person’s ability to surf the Internet would

almost certainly be challenged in US courts as a violation of the First

Amendment of the US Constitution. Especially in states where various forms of

gambling are legal, such as state lotteries, bingo, card clubs, and even

casinos, any attempt to suppress online gambling will likely have little or no

legal enforcement potential.