sports gambling laws

Sports betting laws are different from place to place. In the United States, sports gambling is regarded as illegal in most states save a few like Nevada, Montana etc. The legality and general acceptance of sports betting is extremely regulated in several European countries though not criminalized, but Europeans need to know how to bet tax-free - great info at GertGambell.net. "Sports gambling" is considered by legalized sports gambling proponents as a sports hobby for sports enthusiasts to increase their interest in a sporting event thus being a big benefit to leagues, teams and players etc.

There are many sites that are respectable that do not allow US residents to bet through them but with the appearance of the internet and offshore gambling websites it is getting more tough to govern the sports gambling actions of Americans. For many years the US argued against the internet gambling legal issues by citing the Interstate Wire Act of 1961 passed to stop sports gambling activities between states by making use of wire containing devices and the telephone. Because the internet had not been yet invented at that time, legal experts today question whether regulations actually pertained to the net services or not.

The Justice Department of the US however claimed the Wire Act did refer to all types of online or internet gambling. In 2006, The congress wrote the SAFE Port Act and passed it to increase the United States port security. Attached to this was the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that prohibited US residents from usage of electronic fund transfer or checks, credit cards etc to finance any internet betting activity.

The thing that was important was the fact that the act dealt only with the funding of internet gambling accounts and not the actual placing of the bet. Therefore an Internet betting law attorney Lawrence Walters stated that the bill that was passed didn't have effect on the betting activity of the person but centered only on the restriction of certain transactions that were financial and relating to the banks and internet gambling sites. Thus the bill did not make internet gambling illegal but it made funding ones bet or wager on the web sites illegal criminalizing the financial transaction instead of the specific act of betting by way of the individual.

Rep Barney Frank then introduced in 2007, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act as a way to legalize internet sports gambling and at the same time frame Rep.es McDermott introduced the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act to control betting sites online and collect tax on all bets made.

The country of Antigua and Barbuda in 2003 filed a complaint against the US with the World Trade Organization the US (based on their sports gambling laws and ban on betting on the net) violated their WTO rights. The WTO ruled for their favor and though the US appealed the initial ruling was upheld on lots of occasions. The WTO awarded Antigua and Barbuda trade sanctions worth $21 million and the right to penalize the United States copyright and trademark laws.