Company: LTRYW
Filing Date: 2025-04-11
Form Type: S-1
Source: 0001641172-25-003901
Chunk: 41

Company: Lottery.com Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-04-11
Form: S-1
Chunk 41
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. 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 Wire Act applies only to interstate wire communications related to sporting events or contests. Finding that the declaratory judgment was an adequate remedy at law, the First Circuit declined to set aside the 2019 Opinion under the Administrative Procedure Act. In addition to the First Circuit’s decision, the Fifth Circuit has previously held the Wire Act prohibitions apply only to sports gambling.

On September 15, 2022, the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island entered an order siding with the First Circuit’s interpretation of the Wire Act and holding that “the Wire Act applies only to ‘bets or wagers on any sporting event or contest.”

Notwithstanding the above, currently, there is no definitive ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue, and the courts in other U.S. Circuits might take a different position. Because