U.S. Appeals Court Upholds Online Gambling Ban

When it comes to the American online gambling ban and the ongoing pressure from critics to have the ban repealed in favour of a safer legalized, regulated and taxable U.S. online gambling industry, the reality is that any progress made seems to be counteracted by some equally draconian court ruling.

For instance. Last week it was reported that Congressman Barney Frank - the biggest proponent of online gambling in the U.S. government and the author of a bill to legalize and regulate the internet activity - has more support for his bill than ever, but on Tuesday this week a Philadelphia court dropped a bombshell.

Proponents of freedom of choice where disappointed to learn that the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia upheld the country's much-maligned online gambling ban. It rejected arguments by an association of off-shore bookmakers that the U.S. Federal prohibition was 'vague' and violated privacy rights.

The online gambling ban came about in October 2006 after U.S. Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) which made it illegal for U.S. banks, financial institutions and credit card companies to process online gambling-related payments, thus forcing Americans to stop gambling online.

Lawyers representing the association of off-shore bookmakers argued in court that the online gambling ban was unconstitutional on the grounds that the law it is based on is unclear. They also questioned how the location of a bet could be determined if it was placed in Delaware through an operation based in Coast Rica.

This question did not sit well with one of the three judges, Judge Kent Jordan, who responded by saying, 'No matter how metaphysical you want to get, I'm not in Costa Rica, I'm in Delaware.' The judges also dismissed arguments that the online gambling ban contravenes the right of online gamblers' to privacy at home.