Laws affecting Interactive Gaming

The genesis of the Interactive Gaming Task Force was the passage and signing of Nevada Assembly Bill 466 in June of 2001. This bill empowered the Nevada Gaming Commission to create regulations for Interactive Gaming and issue licenses to those businesses that met the criteria as set forth in the bill. The commission was required to look at the Legal, Technical and Social implications associated with legalized Interactive Gaming in Nevada.

The Wire Act of 1961 has been the subject of most of the legal discussion concerning Interactive Gaming using the Internet. It prohibits the use of interstate communications for the transfer of information necessary to place wagers, but it's specific language relates to sports and race betting. Whether it applies to casino style games is subject to legal interpretation, and a 5th District Judge has ruled that it does not. That ruling does not have national implications, being only a district ruling, and as of now, the appeal has not been heard.

There have been a number of initiatives in the U.S. Congress that are attempting to curtail gaming over the internet. These are U.S. House of Representatives HR 3215 (commonly known as the Goodlatte bill), HR 556 (commonly known as the Leach bill) and U.S. Senate bill S 692 (known as the Kyl bill).

The Goodlatte bill specifically addresses the ambiguity of the 1961 Wire Act, and establishes wording that inhibits all wagers that cross state lines using the Internet. Leach and Kyle's bills address the financing mechanisms that can be used to fund gaming over the Internet.

The Goodlatte bill has cleared the House Judiciary committee, but has yet to be heard on the House Floor, while the Leach and Kyle initiatives are currently stalled in committee.

In the aftermath of September 11th, the congress passed the Patriot bill. This bill gave the government far reaching powers in the name of anti-terrorism, but has led some to believe that it might be used against offshore operators of casinos.