**[Number range CHAPTERSUMMARY OF GOODLATTE INTERNET GAMBLING
LEGISLATION]{.underline}**

**Updates the Wire Act to Cover All Forms of Gambling and New
Technologies -** Under current federal law, it is unclear that using the
Internet to operate a gambling business is illegal. The closest useful
statute is the Wire Act which prohibits gambling over telephone wires.
However, because the Internet does not always travel over telephone
wires, the Wire Act, which was written well before the invention of the
World Wide Web, has become outdated \-- it is not clear that it applies
to the Internet at all. Furthermore, technology has allowed for new
types of electronic gambling, including interactive games on the
Internet such as poker and blackjack, which may not clearly be included
within the types of gambling currently made illegal by the Wire Act. The
bill amends the Wire Act to make it clear that its prohibitions include
Internet gambling by bringing the Act up to speed with the development
of new technology and expanding the existing prohibition to include all
bets or wagers, not merely bets or wagers on sporting events or
contests.

**Increases Penalty** - The maximum prison term for a violation of this
Act is increased from 2 years to 5 years.

**Defines Gambling** - The bill defines a bet or wager to include
wagering on sporting events, lotteries and games of chance. A bet or
wager does not include securities and commodities transactions,
indemnity and insurance contracts, and fantasy sports leagues.

**Prohibits Credit Card Use for Illegal Gambling** - The bill prohibits
a gambling business from accepting certain forms of non-cash payment,
including credit cards and electronic transfers, for the transmission of
bets and wagers in violation of this Act. This provision provides an
enforcement mechanism to address the situation where the gambling
business is located offshore but the gambling business used bank
accounts in the United States.

**Provides Additional Law Enforcement Tools to Combat Illegal Gambling
-** The bill provides an additional tool to fight illegal gambling by
allowing Federal, State, local and tribal law enforcement to seek
injunctions against any party to prevent and restrain violations of the
Act. For example, law enforcement can use such injunctions to get
assistance from ISPs to remove or disable access to hypertext links to
online gambling sites that violate the Act.

**Respects States Rights** - The regulation of intrastate gambling is
within the jurisdiction of the states, so the bill leaves the regulation
of wholly intrastate betting or wagering to the states with tight
controls to be sure that it does not extend beyond their borders or to
minors. For this provision to be applicable, at the time of
transmission, the bettor, the gambling business, and any facility
processing the bets or wagers must be physically located in the same
state and the state must explicitly permit such bets or wagers and
explicitly authorize and license the gambling business.

For more information, or to become an original cosponsor this
legislation, please contact Branden Ritchie in Congressman Goodlatte's
office at 5-5431 or branden.ritchie@mail.house.gov.