Sports betting laws differ from place to place. In the US, sports gambling is considered illegal practically in most states save a few like Nevada, Montana etc. The legality and general acceptance of sports gambling is extremely regulated in numerous European countries though not criminalized, but Europeans must know the best way to bet tax free – great info at GertGambell.net. “Sports gambling” is considered by legalized sports gambling proponents as a sports hobby for sports fans to increase their interest in a sporting event thus being a big benefit to leagues, teams and players etc.
There are many sites that happen to be reputable that will not allow US citizens to bet through them but with the advent of the internet and offshore gambling sites it is getting difficult to govern the sports gambling actions of Americans. For quite a while the US argued up against the internet gambling legalities by citing the Interstate Wire Act of 1961 passed to stop sports gambling activities between states by making use of wire containing devices along with the telephone. Because the internet was not yet invented during those times, legal experts today question whether the law actually pertained to the net services or not.
The Justice Department of the US however claimed the Wire Act did relate to all forms of online or internet gambling. In 2006, The congress wrote the SAFE Port Act and passed it to raise the US port security. Attached to it was the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that prohibited US residents from usage of electronic fund transfer or checks, credit cards etc to fund any internet betting activity.
The thing that was important was the fact that the act dealt only with the funding of internet betting accounts and not the actual placing of the bet. Therefore an Internet gambling law attorney Lawrence Walters stated that this bill that was passed didn’t have impact on the betting activity of the individual but centered only on the restriction of specific transactions which were financial and concerning the banks and internet gambling sites. Thus the bill did not make internet gambling illegal but it made funding ones bet or wager on the web sites illegal criminalizing the financial transaction and not the actual act of betting by the individual.
Rep Barney Frank then introduced in 2007, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act as a way to legalize internet sports gambling and at the same time Rep.es McDermott introduced the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act to control betting sites online and collect tax on all bets made.
The nation of Antigua and Barbuda in 2003 registered a complaint against the US with the World Trade Organization that the US (based upon their sports gambling laws and ban on gambling on the internet) violated their WTO rights. The WTO ruled for their favor and though the US appealed the initial ruling was upheld on lots of occasions. The WTO awarded Antigua and Barbuda trade sanctions worth $21 million as well as the right to penalize the US copyright and trademark laws.