Online Gambling

It has become an increasingly popular practice to participate in gambling online. This includes casinos, sports betting, bingo, virtual poker, and lottery games. Some of the games are offered on mobile devices.

There are some laws that prohibit illegal gambling on the internet. These include the Wire Act, the Travel Act, the Illegal Gambling Business Act, and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) provisions. The Illegal Gambling Business Act prohibits businesses that operate illegally. Owners of an illegal gambling business can face up to five years in prison.

The Travel Act prohibits players from using interstate facilities to conduct illegal activities. For example, the Federal Communications Commission may prohibit the leasing or providing of such facilities. Several other laws regulate commercial activity on the Internet.

Gambling on the Internet implicates seven federal criminal statutes. These are the Wire Act, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, the Financial Transactions Reporting Act, the Bank Secrecy Act, the Money Laundering Control Act, the Interstate Commerce Act, and the Interstate Transportation of Funds by Gambling Businesses.

An important issue in the enforcement of these laws is the due process of law. The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments protect citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures, but not from financial transactions conducted within the United States. However, the presence of an interstate element frustrates state enforcement policies.

There are also some constitutional questions surrounding the federal government’s authority to prosecute gambling. One argument is that the commercial nature of the gambling business is sufficient to satisfy the Commerce Clause. Another argument is that there is limited protection of the First Amendment against crime facilitating speech.