December 23, 2011: DOJ Backs Away from Wire Act
The Interstate Wire Act of 1961 has been the Federal Government’s primary legal weapon in prosecuting illegal gambling for the past 50 years. So it was a bit of a surprise last December when the DOJ announced that the Act only applied to online sports betting. This move was widely interpreted as opening the door to legal online poker in the United States.
Since December, gaming companies and software vendors have racing to grab the coveted “pole position” in the American online poker market. One fact that seems to be getting lost in the all the, understandable, excitement is that no one has put forth a bill to Congress actually legalizing online poker.