International Marketing

Internet Offshore Gambling in the United States and Abroad

Dan Silver dsilver88@hotmail.com

Copyright 2007-2008, Dan Silver. All Rights Reserved. For copyright permissions, contact the author directly or Professor Amar Gupta (gupta@arizona.edu) at The University of Arizona.

Dan Silver ENTR 589 Internet Offshore Gambling Dr. Gupta Fall Semester 2007

Internet Offshore Gambling in the United States and Abroad Abstract Gambling has been a controversial issue throughout the history of the United States. The country has gone through periods where all forms of gambling have been outlawed. The mid-20th century saw important legislation that outlawed some forms of interstate wagering but left the door open for other forms. With the advent of the World Wide Web, Internet gambling became a widespread and highly profitable business. At the turn of the 21st century, economic and legal advantages resulted in many Internet gambling operators setting up shop in the Caribbean. The U.S. began to prosecute those operators for violating certain U.S. laws. One of those lawsuits, against a U.S.-born operator in Antigua, resulted in a counter lawsuit, filed on behalf of Antigua at the World Trade Organization. Antigua won this lawsuit, which purported that the U.S. government's ban unfairly discriminates against foreign online gambling companies and is a violation of international trade agreements. The ramifications of this lawsuit are still in question, as the U.S. has been reluctant to comply with the ruling. The U.S. has also enacted legislation aimed at prohibiting Internet gambling instead of trying to regulate it and reap possible tax revenues. This study looks at this issue along with Internet gambling in Europe and Australia, and examines possible regulatory schemas for the U.S. to employ on Internet gambling. History of Gambling in the United States1 Before examining the current climate of offshore gambling and its regulatory environment, it is important to...