The Ultimate Question Of Internet Casinos Licensed In The United States
Online casinos may be widely popular, with millions of players annually. Over 1,000 online casinos are out there, and this number continues to grow on a yearly basis. The real online casino questions that are asked, however, is when online casinos will be licensed in the United States.
Currently, there is one law directly governing online gambling in the United States, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, or the UIGEA. This law states that financial institutions and payment processors may not conduct any transactions related to online gambling. Other laws, such as the Wire Act, have made it so online gambling sites cannot operate in the United States.
What the UIGEA did do, however, was make remote horse racing and fantasy sports legal, as well as grant states the right to determine whether or not online gambling would be allowed in their states. Some states have already passed laws banning online casinos, particularly the state of Washington. There is no state preemption of the Wire Act, however, in that online sports betting sites cannot be built, licensed, and operate within nearly every state of the Union.
Nevada, the USA’s primary gambling hub, has not yet considered attempting licensing online casinos. New Jersey, on the other hand, has – several Atlantic City Casinos have been contemplating creating state licensed casinos.
What the USA really needs in order to begin licensing and collecting taxes from online casinos is a federal law, statute, or agency that would oversee and govern the industry on a whole. Until this occurs, it is unlikely that licenses will be handed out to those online gambling sites who wish to operate in the United States.
Opposition is flaring over the issue, and have been moderately successful in keeping some states away from online casinos – particularly Washington and Kentucky.