Short Paper on Internet Gambling's ILLegality
For Persuasive Argument we had to write a paper from the position we are against. It had to be something like the first paper which is located a few posts down. Essentially, we had to argue the issue from the opposing side. Here is my piece:
Proponents of internet gambling believe that gambling over the internet is not banned by the Federal Wire Act of 1961, in fact the spirit of the law is directed against internet gambling.
The Federal Wire Act does not explicitly ban internet gambling. How could it? The Act was constructed and passed decades before the internet as we know it existed. The Act does explicitly forbid the use of interstate wire communications for the use of sports betting. The purpose of the Act was to curb a rampant activity.
With varying legalities of sports gambling in different states, gamblers utilized the telephone to circumvent local laws prohibiting sports gambling and placed bets in states in which such an activity was legal. The Federal Wire Act was implemented in order to halt this circumvention of local laws. In essence, people were legally gambling in states in which gambling was illegal. The Wire Act put a stop to this.
In 1961, telecommunications had advanced to the point at which only verbal messages could be readily transmitted. In sports gambling, this is all that is required to place a bet. The words “$100 on Boston” constitutes the placement of a sports bet. This can be done easily over the phone.
The nature of sports gambling also makes it conducive to placing bets over the phone. The placement of the bet can be as simple as a short phrase like “$100 on Boston to cover” or “$50 on the Eagles.” The contest which is being wagered upon is seen by many people, published, and can easily be referenced. Only fixing of games or point shaving can forge an outcome, but this activity is frowned upon even in the gambling community. Moreover, bookies typically make money by collecting a vigorish, a fee for the bet being placed. Although the loser of the bet typically pays for the vigorish, bookmakers typically balance their action evenly by taking equal bets for both sides of a contest. This way, approximately half of the bettors are assured to be losers and assured to pay the vigorish. This means that there is very little motive for the results of a sporting contest to be fixed by a bookmaker.
Other forms of gambling existed in 1961, but none were very conducive to the telephone. For instance, it would be possible for a person to call up a Las Vegas casino and place $100 on black on a roulette wheel, but this would be ridiculous. The gambler wouldn’t be able to see if the ball landed on black. Since the gambler would be playing against the casino, the casino would have a motive to lie about the result of the contest, even if it did land on black.
Placing bets over the phone for horse racing was not prohibited by the Wire Act, even though horse racing, as well as dog racing, have similar circumstances. Both are publicly known contests, and both are essentially bets placed against other players, not against a gambling establishment. However, many states allow horse racing, as well as off-track betting on horse racing. Sports betting, on the other hand, was prohibited by most states and still is.
Another form of gambling in which the player doesn’t play against a gambling establishment is poker. Of course, playing poker over a phone in 1961 would be utterly impossible. Poker’s legality is different from other forms of gambling. Playing the game for money is legal in most states, but it becomes illegal if the “house” takes money, either through an entry fee or a rake (money taken from the pot and pocketed by the gambling establishment). Online poker rooms take rakes from their games, and entry fees for their tournaments.
Times have changed since 1961. The internet has allowed for the existence of online casinos, virtual environments in which gamblers can place bets remotely on all sorts of casino games, as well as sports. Now it is feasible for a gambler to play roulette in a state in which it is illegal to do so.
The Wire Act may be an outdated law considering the advancement of telecommunications in the past four decades, but the spirit of the Act is not outdated. It was meant to stop people from circumventing local gambling laws by using communications devices to place remote bets that actually occur in another state or country. Internet gamblers in 2006 do the same thing that sports bettors did in the 1960’s. They place bets online in countries in which those bets are legal. However, in most states, the gambling they do is illegal. The Federal Wire Act does not explicitly forbid this, but the spirit of the law is to halt this kind of activity.
Proponents of internet gambling believe that gambling over the internet is not banned by the Federal Wire Act of 1961, in fact the spirit of the law is directed against internet gambling.
The Federal Wire Act does not explicitly ban internet gambling. How could it? The Act was constructed and passed decades before the internet as we know it existed. The Act does explicitly forbid the use of interstate wire communications for the use of sports betting. The purpose of the Act was to curb a rampant activity.
With varying legalities of sports gambling in different states, gamblers utilized the telephone to circumvent local laws prohibiting sports gambling and placed bets in states in which such an activity was legal. The Federal Wire Act was implemented in order to halt this circumvention of local laws. In essence, people were legally gambling in states in which gambling was illegal. The Wire Act put a stop to this.
In 1961, telecommunications had advanced to the point at which only verbal messages could be readily transmitted. In sports gambling, this is all that is required to place a bet. The words “$100 on Boston” constitutes the placement of a sports bet. This can be done easily over the phone.
The nature of sports gambling also makes it conducive to placing bets over the phone. The placement of the bet can be as simple as a short phrase like “$100 on Boston to cover” or “$50 on the Eagles.” The contest which is being wagered upon is seen by many people, published, and can easily be referenced. Only fixing of games or point shaving can forge an outcome, but this activity is frowned upon even in the gambling community. Moreover, bookies typically make money by collecting a vigorish, a fee for the bet being placed. Although the loser of the bet typically pays for the vigorish, bookmakers typically balance their action evenly by taking equal bets for both sides of a contest. This way, approximately half of the bettors are assured to be losers and assured to pay the vigorish. This means that there is very little motive for the results of a sporting contest to be fixed by a bookmaker.
Other forms of gambling existed in 1961, but none were very conducive to the telephone. For instance, it would be possible for a person to call up a Las Vegas casino and place $100 on black on a roulette wheel, but this would be ridiculous. The gambler wouldn’t be able to see if the ball landed on black. Since the gambler would be playing against the casino, the casino would have a motive to lie about the result of the contest, even if it did land on black.
Placing bets over the phone for horse racing was not prohibited by the Wire Act, even though horse racing, as well as dog racing, have similar circumstances. Both are publicly known contests, and both are essentially bets placed against other players, not against a gambling establishment. However, many states allow horse racing, as well as off-track betting on horse racing. Sports betting, on the other hand, was prohibited by most states and still is.
Another form of gambling in which the player doesn’t play against a gambling establishment is poker. Of course, playing poker over a phone in 1961 would be utterly impossible. Poker’s legality is different from other forms of gambling. Playing the game for money is legal in most states, but it becomes illegal if the “house” takes money, either through an entry fee or a rake (money taken from the pot and pocketed by the gambling establishment). Online poker rooms take rakes from their games, and entry fees for their tournaments.
Times have changed since 1961. The internet has allowed for the existence of online casinos, virtual environments in which gamblers can place bets remotely on all sorts of casino games, as well as sports. Now it is feasible for a gambler to play roulette in a state in which it is illegal to do so.
The Wire Act may be an outdated law considering the advancement of telecommunications in the past four decades, but the spirit of the Act is not outdated. It was meant to stop people from circumventing local gambling laws by using communications devices to place remote bets that actually occur in another state or country. Internet gamblers in 2006 do the same thing that sports bettors did in the 1960’s. They place bets online in countries in which those bets are legal. However, in most states, the gambling they do is illegal. The Federal Wire Act does not explicitly forbid this, but the spirit of the law is to halt this kind of activity.
posted by rob | 10:59 PM
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