US Enforcement of Operators, Not Players

June 01, 2011 | News Category: Gaming Law

0 Comments

There have been many online gamblers who are located in the United States that are afraid that the United States Federal authorities will come after the individuals who hold online gambling accounts at any of the online gambling sites that have been closed down.

It has been made clear by a US Federal prosecutor that those who held the online gambling accounts with the companies and online gambling payment processors should not worry about being prosecuted as individuals since the enforcement actions are targeted at online gambling companies, rather than at the individual.

US Attorney Rod Rosenstein has been the federal prosecutor who has headed up this latest series of online gambling domain name seizures, as well as the online gambling bank account seizures. Attorney Rosenstein, who based in Baltimore, has once again affirmed that players will not be targeted by any of the enforcement actions, unless of course, the players live in any of the states that specifically have laws that do not allow their residents to participate in online gambling. Those who do not live in states where online gambling is forbidden have no need to be concerned.

In an interview, Attorney Rosenstein explained how the federal enforcement agencies are in the process of seeking out and shutting down illegal online gambling companies that have been offering online gambling to residents of the United States. The federal authorities are also going after the payment processors and banking institutions who enable these online gambling sites to offer their services to US residents.

Rosenstein said: "These indictments target, not the users but the businesses that are in violation of US law by providing these services."

Attorney Rosenstein stated in an interview with 1090AM WBAL, the Maryland news and sports station, that players should first and foremost know the law of the state in which they are living. It is the player's responsibility to know whether online gambling is legal or illegal in the state in which they reside. He noted, however, that generally, at this time, online gambling companies offering their services to American players and likely to be breaking the law, simply because it is illegal to move funds through the US banking system.

As we know, this puts punters in a difficult situation, since the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) did not prohibit online gambling, but simply prohibited online gambling financial transactions. Sadly for US punters, there had been hopes that online gambling laws would change when the Obama administration came into office, and instead of the online gambling laws relaxing, the US Federal authorities are now using the UIGEA to indict online gambling companies and online gambling payment processors.