Lawyer and poker aficionado Lee Rousso has filed suit in King County Superior Court in an effort to overturn the States ban on Internet gambling. The American attorney is taking legal action claiming that the online wagering ban infringes the US Constitutions protections of interstate trade.
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was passed in October and prohibits American banks and credit card companies from processing payments to online gambling businesses outside the country. The State ban was passed by lawmakers with much support and went into effect in June of 2006. It extended an earlier embargo on gambling by telephones or telegraphs and increased the crime from a gross misdemeanour to a felony.
No one has yet been prosecuted under the ban but Rousso’s Seattle-based lawsuit argues that the law unfairly protects the in-State gambling industry, including card rooms and casinos. He stated that if unsuccessful, he would push for another change in State law to make Internet poker legal again. Internet gambling also is prohibited under Federal law and this has sparked international trade squabbles with nations housing online gambling operations.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled in December that UIGEA unfairly targets offshore casinos and told US officials that America could keep restrictions against sport betting in place if these were also applied to American businesses, such as operators of remote horse betting.
