ONLINE GAMBLING AND CASINO GUIDE

Who Dares Challenge the UIGEA?

While individual players are not targeted by the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, online casinos and poker rooms most certainly are. Some of the biggest names in the online gambling industry have pulled out of the US market, with huge losses in short-term revenue as a direct result. Payment processors have also been targeted and some of them have been forced to shut down business with the US, most notably the credit card companies, but also e-wallets such as NETeller.

In a somewhat surprising move, the tiny island state of Antigua and Barbuda not only refused to comply with the UIGEA, but also filed a complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO ruled in favor of Antigua and Barbuda, agreeing that the UIGEA was interfering with trade agreements.

The US, however, chose to ignore the WTO ruling and its earlier commitments to open up the market to recreational services – a very rare move indeed among WTO members. The dispute has been going on for a while now, and the Antiguan government has claimed compensation for their losses, estimated at several billion dollars.

Some online casinos and poker rooms are obviously ignoring the UIGEA and continue to accept American customers, but it’s no hassle-free process for US players to transfer money to gambling sites. It would seem that the US government is dead set on moving along with the UIGEA intact, in some cases shutting out American citizens who may legally gamble in their own state from doing the same thing online.

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This entry was posted on Monday, September 10th, 2007 at 2:12 am and is filed under Other, Gambling law. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.