"Some Bets Are Off" by Jacob Sullum, Reason Magazine

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Some Bets Are Off: The strangely selective and self-defeating crackdown on Internet gambling.

by Jacob Sullum, June 2008
2008 Reason Magazine

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On July 16, 2006, the CEO of BetOnSports.com attacked an anti–online gambling bill that the House of Representatives had overwhelmingly approved a few days before. “We want to be regulated,” David Carruthers wrote in the Baltimore Sun. “We want to be taxed. We want to be licensed. Instead of dealing with us constructively to address issues of mutual concern, these legislators prefer to pretend that they can control the Internet. Instead of protecting the public, they would rather waste time on public posturing to their partisan base.”

It's a long article, but a great overview of where the online casino industry was, is and likely will be in the near future. Highly recommended.

 

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I guess I should add that it's largely about the background, genesis and repercussions of the US (so-called) "anti-gambling" law, the UIGEA passed in 2006. If you read nothing else from it, read this:

Protectionism helps explain why, despite all the railing against online gambling by politicians like Bob Goodlatte and John Kyl, the bill that finally passed Congress left the law ambiguous. For me this is more about driving foreign traders out of action so Nevada and Vegas dont lose out on business in the future, a London lawyer told the Sunday Telegraph last year. The moves being made now give the U.S. time to sort out the legalization of online gaming and give the Vegas brands time to establish [themselves] online.