The American Gaming Association has stepped forward to voice its opinion about the American Department of Justice’s decision to amend the 1961 Wire Act. While the gaming industry at large was pleased with the decision, the AGA is not completely satisfied. As such, the association has asked for some further details and action.
Out of many issues that the AGA has pointed out, one of the main points of contention is that the Department of Justice’s announcement only deals with the Wire Act on its own rather than in conjunction with the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act. The UIGEA has been responsible for the banning of online gambling for the past few years, and the AGA would like to know how the American government plans to deal with it now that the Wire Act has been amended.
While plenty of states have used the announcement as a green light for planning the launch of their online gambling websites, the DoJ’s decision only directly deals with legislations in Illinois and New York. These two states are in the process of launching online lottery websites, similar to those launched in Canada by the British Columbia Lottery Commission and Lotto Quebec.
As such, these states’ governments have joined the AGA in requesting more information from the American government. The American Gaming Association has also started a campaign in a favour of a federal legislation that will protect states’ rights to launch online gambling sites.
