Company: LTRYW
Filing Date: 2025-04-25
Form Type: S-1/A
Source: 0001641172-25-006093
Chunk: 43

Company: Lottery.com Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-04-25
Form: S-1/A
Chunk 43
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 wagers on any sporting event or contest, or for the transmission of a wire communication that entitles the recipient to receive money or credit as a result of such bets or wagers, or for information assisting in the placing of such bets or wagers, may be fined or imprisoned, or both. However, the Wire Act provides that it shall not be construed to prevent the transmission in interstate or foreign commerce of information for use in news reporting of sporting events or contests, or for the transmission of information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers on a sporting event or contest from a state or foreign country where betting on that sporting event or contest is legal.

Until 2011, there was uncertainty as to whether the Wire Act prohibited the conduct of intrastate lottery transactions via the Internet by U.S. states if such transactions crossed state lines. Essentially, there was a debate with regard to whether all of the prohibitions in the Wire Act applied only to bets or wagers on a “sporting event or contest” as used in the Wire Act, or all bets or wagers. In late 2011, the OLC issued an opinion that concluded the conduct prohibited by the Wire Act was limited to sports gambling (the “2011 DOJ Opinion”). Following the issuance of the 2011 DOJ Opinion, six state lotteries offered internet sales of scratch lottery games to in-state customers, and several other states allowed subscription sales of draw games via the Internet. Notably, in 2017, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania authorized the Pennsylvania Lottery to distribute lottery products, including scratch ticket games, through numerous channels that included web applications, mobile applications, and social media.

In January 2019, the OLC issued the 2019 Opinion, which concluded that the restrictions in the Wire Act on the transmission in interstate or foreign commerce of bets and wagers was not limited to sports gambling but applied to all bets and wagers, including those involving state lotteries. Multiple lawsuits were filed challenging the validity of the 2019 Opinion.

On June 3, 2019, the federal district court in New Hampshire determined that the Wire Act applies exclusively to sports gambling and set aside the 2019 Opinion. The New Hampshire federal district court declined, however, to issue a nationwide injunction in the case. On August 16, 2019, the DOJ appealed the New Hampshire federal district court’s decision to the First Circuit.

On January 20, 2021, the First Circuit affirmed the District Court’s decision, determining that the