The law prohibits the transmission of bets, wagers, or information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers, according to Anthony Cabot, a lawyer and adjunct professor at the University of Nevada's Las Vegas International Gaming Institute. Basically designed to prosecute bookies who use the phone to take bets, the statute does not directly concern the Web, although federal regulators may try to apply it to prevent gambling transactions made via modem. And it is practically impossible to prosecute people acting legally overseas, even if their activities violate American law. That's the nature of the Net.
Some legislators think the solution is to frighten away bettors and intimidate operators.
Sen. Jon Kyl, a Republican from Arizona, has introduced a bill that would make most Internet gambling illegal. Moreover, it would target the gambler as well as the operator. The easier it is to gamble, the more people who will have a gambling problem. If you're talking about someone sitting in his house and he can gamble, we'll never see anyone. Sue Schneider, managing editor of Rolling Good Times Online, a Web magazine for gamblers, agrees.