FreedomAtStake's Blog

iMEGA online gambling ruling issued today

By FreedomAtStake | View all Posts
Posted Thursday, March 06, 2008 04:57 PM   6 comments
One story that we have been anxiously following is the status of the iMEGA legal challenge to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), happening in New Jersey. A decision was supposed to come out in December, but was delayed.

Well, we wait no longer... the decision came out this afternoon.

We are still mulling over the decision (which can be viewed here) but this is what we think we can decipher...

In short: The complaint was basically dismissed, but iMEGA won some key points.

Here's the background:

iMEGA is the Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association. When the UIGEA passed, they wanted to challenge the law, but were unable due to some arcane legal technicalities regarding their status. So they went to court to fight for the right to challenge the law, among other complaints.

In the decision released today, Judge Mary L. Cooper, of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, threw out the complaint, but granted iMEGA the standing to challenge the UIGEA.

But why is this important?

According to iMEGA's lawyer, Judge Cooper ruling stated that despite the passage of UIGEA, online gambling is only illegal in states where a statute specifically exists.

To put that in perspective, as of this writing we believe (we could be wrong) only Washington State has a statute that specifically addresses online gambling, and that statute is being challenged as well.

Finally, the decision also mentions, in fairly plain legalese, "Notwithstanding UIGEA, the plaintiff and its members remain free to promote Internet gambling; nothing in the challenged statute implicates the plaintiff's expressive activities in this regard."

While we are not sure if this was the statute being used to hinder Uadvertising, at first glance it sounds like we can probably expect online gambling sites to start flooding the TV again.

We will have to wait until tomorrow to find out what the legal pundits have to say about this developing story.
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daneish says:
03/07/08 02:11PM
This is not going to do anything to help the online USA wagerers, if you notice some of the threads, being a USA resident, a lot of books accept our money but try to collect. The offshore books know that online gambling and credit cards, Neteller, etc., and that USA residents are not allowed to legally gamble online, they gladly take your deposit and if you win and try and collect, you get a lot of song and dance routines, delays, all kinds of nonsense before you get paid, if you get paid, this isn't going to change anything. Read the gaming industry threads, that says it all.
ozzwald says:
03/07/08 04:56PM
western union works
kobefan76 says:
03/09/08 03:11PM
The k I use never has any delays and I am in the US. BOOKMAKER
seaotter says:
03/10/08 06:39PM
I've never had problems getting paid. And I withdraw monthly. If any OFF-SHORE book ever didn't pay,word would get around and their business would drop like a rock!!!
daneish says:
03/11/08 10:41PM
You don't mention what book you use seaotter, and I've seen a few that not only don't pay but their checks bounce by circumventing US banks and sending checks out of Canada, some banks in the US won't even touch these checks without charging you outrageous fees to cash them. Offshore books could care less about USA residents, if you win and then you don't get paid, what are you going to do? Cry? Throw a tantrum?

Tell your mother? I know that Sportsbook.com is used pretty regular in NYC, but their payouts are slow, you get paid, just takes a few weeks to get your money, apparently, that's OK for some bettors, not for me, I deposit quickly, I want to collect quickly, simple as that, and I don't know any books that do this for US residents, if I did, I'd already subscribe to one.

batottu says:
03/12/08 12:46PM
Delays are why Sportsbook.com is a D rated sportsbook. People need to start going to real books, not ones that give nice bonuses. That being said sportsbook is still good in my book, you get paid that's all that matters. If you do a little research you will find a good book
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User: Freedom@Stake
Joined: July 1995
Location: Nova Scotia
Team: Florida State Seminoles
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