Online casino gambling will probably never reach the same sort of mythic status in the American conscious that baseball or football, or even American Idol, has. But in the U.S. online casino gambling is gaining ground as a popular activity for those with free time and money to burn. Americans make up a significant percentage of the online casino world's demographics and revenues, and because of this online casino companies wish that U.S. law afforded them more opportunities to spread their business throughout America.
However, online casino gambling is not accepted in the United States in the same way that gambling in Las Vegas or even prostitution is. In Nevada, for example, there are perfectly legal brothels. There is not a single legal online casino in any state of the union, though, and because of this online casinos operate services for Americans but are not permitted to really seek out more business from within U.S. territory. And the U.S. Congress isn't likely to take up the legalization of online casino sites or gaming for some time.
So Americans who wish to gamble online in the U.S. will likely continue to do so, only without government sanction. Given that, technically, online casino gambling is considered to be illegal, they will also be breaking in spirit the 1961 Wire Act. But you can't really expect them to know that the Wire Act applies to gambling over phone lines, or expect the government to remember that most gambling on the internet these days bypasses phone lines, with gamblers connected to online casino sites courtesy of cable connections. |
