From WSJ
The debate over Internet gambling has been raging in the U.S. for more than a decade.
Until recently, the federal government treated Internet gambling as an illegal activity. Fueled by the 50-year-old Wire Act, which bans sports betting over communication wires, and a 2006 law that made it illegal to process U.S. payments for online gambling, the Justice Department targeted online-gambling companies and their partners with criminal and civil lawsuits.
But in late 2011, the Justice Department changed its interpretation of the law, opening the way for states to consider some forms of Internet betting.
Earlier this year, Internet gambling scored one of its biggest victories when New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed a bill into law allowing current casino operators in Atlantic City to take in-state bets online. While New Jersey’s move could encourage similar measures in other states, the legal picture for Internet gambling remains hazy.
Critics say Internet gambling is a scourge that will fuel addiction, bankruptcies and crime if more states give it their stamp of approval.
Others say Washington had no business trying to ban Internet gambling in the first place, and that states and citizens should be free to make their own choices.
Michelle Minton, a fellow in consumer policy studies at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, argues in favor of allowing Internet gambling. John Warren Kindt, a professor at the University of Illinois and an editor and contributing author to the U.S. International Gambling Report series, says that would be a mistake.
We shouldn’t be debating whether Washington should legalize Internet gambling, because the federal government didn’t have a right to try to ban it in the first place.
The debate over the morality of gambling has been over for a long time in the U.S. It is a widespread and popular activity: Research shows that more than 70 million Americans gamble in a given year, and some 85% of adults admit to gambling at least once in their lives. Every state, apart from Hawaii and Utah, has some kind of legalized gambling, and all but seven states operate lotteries. Since the 1930s, state governments have happily accepted the hard-earned income of their citizens buying a one-in-175 million chance of hitting the jackpot.
Yet, some draw the line at allowing adults to spend their own money to play games with much better odds, such as online poker, in the privacy of their own homes.
Opponents of legalized online gambling worry that legalization will fuel problem gambling, entice minors and encourage crime. Those are understandable concerns, but keeping online gambling illegal will have far worse outcomes for all of them.
