The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) was the subject of oral arguments this week before a three-judge panel on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.
UIGEA, which was signed into law in 2006, keeps American money from being lost to predatory off-shore gambling Web sites. The Internet-gambling organization iMEGA argued UIGEA was ambiguous and violated the First Amendment.
John Kindt, professor of business administration at the University of Illinois, said it's significant that all three judges on the 3rd Circuit panel appeared to reject the arguments of the gambling organization.
"It looks like the courts are not being fooled by all the lobbying that's going on," he said.
"Online gambling is the 'crack cocaine' of creating new addicted gamblers — that's the conclusion of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission."
Liberals in Congress have tried to repeal UIGEA, and Kindt expects more court challenges to the Internet gambling law.
— Josh Montez
