Sports betting laws differ from country to country. In the US, sports gambling is considered illegal practically in most states save some like Nevada, Montana etc. The legality and general acceptance of sports gambling is extremely regulated in several European countries though not criminalized, but Europeans need to know how to bet tax free – excellent info at GertGambell.net. “Sports gambling” is considered by legalized sports gambling proponents as being a sports hobby for sports enthusiasts to enhance their interest in a sporting event thus becoming a great benefit to leagues, teams and players etc.
There are many sites that are respectable that do not allow US citizens to bet through them although with the advent of the internet and offshore gambling websites it truly is getting more difficult to govern the sports gambling actions of Americans. For many years the United States argued against the internet gambling legalities by citing the Interstate Wire Act of 1961 passed to halt sports gambling activities between the states by using wire containing devices and the telephone. Considering that the internet had not been yet invented at that time, legal experts today question whether regulations actually pertained to the net services or otherwise.
The Justice Department of America 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 increase the US port security. Attached with it was the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that prohibited US residents from utilization of electronic fund transfer or checks, credit cards etc to fund any internet gambling activity.
The thing that was important was the reality that the act dealt only with the funding of internet gambling accounts rather than the actual placing of the bet. Thus an online gambling law attorney Lawrence Walters stated that this bill which was passed didn’t have impact on the betting activity of the person but centered only around the restriction of specific transactions that were financial and concerning the banks and internet gambling sites. Thus the bill failed to make internet gambling illegal nevertheless it made funding ones bet or wager on the web sites illegal criminalizing the financial transaction instead of the specific act of betting by way of the individual.
Rep Barney Frank then introduced in 2007, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act in order to legalize internet sports gambling and also at the same time frame Rep.es McDermott introduced the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act to regulate betting sites online and collect tax on all bets made.
The country 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 betting on the internet) violated their WTO rights. The WTO ruled in 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 and the right to penalize the United States copyright and trademark laws.