NCJ Number
198168
Date Published
December 2002
Length
66 pages
Annotation
This is an overview of some of the issues surrounding Internet gambling.
Abstract
The global legal framework for Internet gambling is a complicated mix of laws and regulations. In the United States the Wire Act, which prohibits gambling businesses from using interstate or international telecommunications wires to knowingly transmit bets, is the main Federal statute used to prosecute such activity. The major participants in the credit card industry have tried to restrict use of their cards for Internet gambling by prohibiting cardholders from using the cards to gamble on line and developing transaction codes that banks can use to block payments. Some representatives of law enforcement agencies consider that the anonymity and jurisdictional issues characteristic of Internet gambling make on-line gaming a potentially powerful tool for money launderers. Others view the threat as less serious. Regulatory agencies and officials from the credit card and gaming industries do not believe that Internet gambling is any more susceptible to money laundering than other forms of e-commerce. Appendices, tables, figures, notes