Will online casinos ever be legalized in the U.S.? There are economic benefits to legalizing online gambling - billions of reasons exist, in the form of U.S. dollars, to legalize online casino use. But still, U.S. lawmakers are either ambivalent, don't care, or are dead-set against online casino usage and operations becoming legalized. It seems that while much of the rest of the world has embraced online gambling - sixty countries to date have legalized online gambling at online casino sites and more in one form or another, these countries making up a significant amount of the percentage of internet users - America is choosing to sit on the sidelines while the train that is the online gambling industry rumbles past...or rather, straight at it.
Millions of Americans sign onto the internet and gamble away billions of dollars at online casino sites, even though according to a 1961 law banning sports betting over phone lines is interpreted by the Justice Department as applying to all forms of current online gambling - even when, with the advent of the cable modem, online casinos are less and less relying on dial-up customers for their revenues. Americans, for the most part, are content to continue using online casinos as if they were legal, and you can safely bet that they really don't care if their government allows the practice or not.
There is no greater issue concerning online gambling in the U.S. other than the economics than the legality for those online casino companies that are fighting for their voices to be heard. They argue that legalizing online gambling will help keep online casino operators from delving into dishonesty - though there are self-regulatory bodies for online casino businesses and websites already - and that the U.S. government stands to reap huge financial benefits from the taxes on online casino companies and Americans who would have to report their winnings to the IRS. But alas, for the moment no one really seems to care - aside from the online casino execs and a few Senators and members of the House. |
