If one looks at the fact that no court has yet applied the Wire Act to Internet gambling beyond sports-betting and that the activity ceased when UIGEA was passed, one has to wonder whether this is the right way for the US to go about making law — that will have wide repercussions, with regard to EU interests. According to opinion surveys among European companies from all sectors, one of the principal risks of doing business in the US is that politically motivated prosecutors can use criminal investigations as a form of regulation. These events demonstrate that this risk may be a very real one
Great quote from Lode Van Den Hende [EU and WTO legal expert] on the current lawsuit against PartyGaming Plc founder Anurag Dikshit regarding the company’s supposed violation of the Wire Act. This is the first time this Act has been applied to Internet gambling beyond sports-betting. Despite never offering sports-betting and ceasing to accept US customers for its poker and casino games when the still-controversial UIGEA was passed in 2006, United States District Judge Rakoff accepted the plea of Mr. Anurag Dikshit and a fine of $300M. Hopefully this does not set a precedent - this would be very bad for US/EU relations and horrible news for the gaming space.
