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The political reference is presumably directed at billionaire Sheldon Adelson, the founder and CEO of Las Vegas Sands, who gave $113 million to Republicans in 2016. Adelson has been on a crusade to restore the Wire Act and ban online gambling. In 2013, he said he’s “willing to spend whatever it takes,” as his “moral standard compels” him to speak out on the issue.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Along with persuading Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and former Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) into introducing legislation to restore the Wire Act, Adelson has funded the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling. The lobbying group’s spokesperson, former Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Arkansas), said the 2011 decision “was as problematic legally as it was morally.”<\/p>\n
“Today’s decision seamlessly aligns with the Department’s longstanding position that federal law prohibits all forms of internet gambling,” Lincoln stated Monday.<\/p>\n
Lottery Effect<\/b><\/h2>\n
The DOJ issued its 2011 opinion after Illinois and New York asked the department to review whether the Wire Act prohibited state lotteries from offering online games.<\/p>\n
Today, six states allow citizens inside their borders to play internet lottery games. And five of them — Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, New Hampshire — permit the sale of Powerball and Mega Millions tickets over the internet.<\/strong><\/p>\nThe future of those sales may be in jeopardy following Engel’s Wire Act update.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Wire Act has once again received a new interpretation after the US Department of Justice (DOJ) issued an updated opinion on how the federal statute signed into law in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy applies to online gambling. In an opinion dated November 2, 2018, but only released this week, DOJ Office of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":96197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,60,13699,61,13592,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Revised DOJ Wire Act Opinion Could Affect Lotteries, Player Pools<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n