Internet Gambling: A Sketch of Legislative Proposals in the 106th Congress

Publication Date: January 2001

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Media, telecommunications, and information

Type:

Abstract:

S. 692 (Sen. Kyl), as passed by the Senate, and H.R. 3125 (Rep. Goodlatte), as brought to the House floor on a suspension motion, would have outlawed commercial use of the Internet to gamble or to facilitate gambling, with fairly broad exceptions for certain forms of legalized gambling. Individual bettors were not covered and there were exemptions for parimutuel betting on horse racing and dog racing, and for state lotteries, among others. Violations were subject to criminal penalties and court injunctions. Service providers who cooperated with authorities in good faith enforcement of the Act were immunized for their cooperation and for violations occurring through use of their facilities. Both bills left intact the Wire Act which proscribes use of the telephone facilities to gamble and transmit gambling information.

H.R. 5020 (Rep. Conyers) would have amended the Wire Act so as to resolve disputes over its coverage of Internet gambling and otherwise. The bill had no explicit exceptions for parimutuel gambling or state lotteries.

H.R. 4419 (Rep. Leach) , as reported out of the House Committee on Banking and Financial Services (H.Rept. 106-771), would have prohibited gambling businesses from accepting bettors' credit cards, electronic fund transfers, or checks, in connection with illegal internet gambling, and established criminal, civil, and regulatory mechanisms for enforcement of its proscriptions.

None of these proposals were enacted during the 106th Congress.

The Justice Department appropriation legislation, did included a section (§629) subsequently enacted and drafted to clarify the legality of the use of interstate communications in connect with off-track parimutuel gambling, 144 Cong.Rec. H12481 (daily ed. Dec. 15, 2001).