|
One of the touchiest subjects, at least for
anyone now living in the United States, is that of
online gambling. While being federally illegal for a
long time, technically and controversially, it has
widely been ignored by federal law enforcement officers.
There has been no enforcement of online gambling laws
and therefore online gambling has gone virtually
unchecked in the United States.
Recently though there has been a push to
categorically outlaw the practice and provide penalties
to companies that provide an online gambling service to
United States residents. Some of the latest developments
on the US gambling ban is the continued pressure on
offshore online gambling facilities on islands such as
Antigua and Barbados. What many of the employees of
these companies fear is that if the US cracks down on
online gambling a significant portion of their revenue
will be lost causing unemployment throughout these small
countries. This is unfortunately a possible reality if
legislation does go through that effectively stops all
online gambling in the United States.
US residents are addicted to online gambling, it
seems, and contribute a substantial portion of the
revenue going into the coffers of the online gambling
industry.
Another one of the latest developments on the US
gambling ban is the steps that the World Trade
Organization is taking to stop just such legislation.
There is an argument that halting online gambling would
be a violation of free trade. This is certainly is not
advantageous politically and is something that the
current US administration would certainly not like to be
regarded as being involved in.
There are arguments on both sides of the fence and
any player currently living in the United States that
has a penchant for online gambling would be well advised
to stay tuned for the latest developments on the US
gambling ban.
|
