Dave,
Technically the online sites that were available in the US have
been illegally operating for a few years.
If I remember rightly, the way the Americans tried to ban
online gaming was by introducing a law that made it illegal for any
US financial company to process gaming site transactions on behalf of
American citizens. I guess this is why the FBI are talking about money
laundering charges against the owners of Tilt, Stars etc. The US law
makers probably feel like the the online sites had been taking the
wee wee over the past four/five years since they introduced their law.
They had to act as they had obviously found a way (or at least they
thought they had!) around it.
It was under Bush's watch that this law was passed by Congress.
At the time Bush needed the votes from the bible belt community
for an unrelated issue. As is the way with a democratic society there
had to be a trade off! This was passing the law that made it illegal
for US financial institutions to dabble with online gaming businesses.
I have a soft spot for the US, but you have to chuckle to yourself when
you think America, the 'land of the free'!!!
In Sweden, oddly you have to pay taxes on your online winnings.
In France, the company offering online gaming has to be a French based
operator that pays it's business taxes to the French government.
So different countries, different approaches to online gambling.
As for the future in our fair land, I honestly can't see a UK government
(even a Conservative led one) imposing similar laws. As a nation, we seem
quite relaxed about gambling. I think we take our lead from our wonderful
bankers who head our financial system.
[ This message was edited by: Pitster on 2011-04-16 15:54 ]
