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Legality of Online Casinos

As you may already know, the internet is kind of like a precursor of the world state, but the difference is that it really has no government. In the internet, countries hardly matter, and borders don’t count for anything. There’s nobody there to make proper rules, much less govern. The best you can hope for is that everybody you meet on the net follows the so-called internet ethics. But we all know how hopeless a case that is. This problem is made even worse when it comes to things like gambling.

Gambling and the Law

Gambling, as you may know, is illegal in some states. Take America, for example. Online gambling sites are not allowed to operate in some of its states. So most gambling sites, if not all, are based in other countries such as New Zealand, Australia, Denmark, Finland, South Korea, Germany, and France. Canada also allows online gambling, but only in some states.

So, generally, these sites don’t have any legal issues at all as long as they obey the laws and rules of the country where they’re based at. The real problem lies in the players. Technically, it is illegal for a person to gamble if the place where he or she lives in does not allow it, especially if that person is underage. But it is very easy to lie when it comes to the internet. Players can easily fake all their personal information. It’s the same thing as underage kids getting into porn sites. And, ideally, it’s the person’s responsibility to know whether or not it is legal for him to gamble. This is all stated in the terms and agreements that a person is required to agree to if he or she wants to register at the site. But then again, nobody really reads the small print anyway.

If it is discovered that you are playing illegally, then your winnings are forfeited.

The Reality

Gambling laws for online casinos are murky at best. Most of the time, the government just turns a blind eye because nobody really has any solution to this yet. There is something called a Wire Wager Act in the US which disallows any US citizen to send their bets through ‘wire,’ and this includes the internet. So, technically, if a US citizen is playing on an online casino, then the casino site will also be breaking US law. But a country cannot prosecute anyone who lives in another country, so this is another problem.

So, really, the worst that can happen to a player is that his winnings can be forfeited. But that’s only until proper laws concerning the internet are made.