There’s a new push from the US Congress to ban offshore online gambling, and they’re asking the Department of Justice to step in. Several members of Congress sent a letter to the DOJ, calling offshore operators predatory and a vulnerability for players. However, the truth is far more mundane, with tax revenue being the true motivating factor.
Our friends at the American Gaming Association were honest about the situation, saying these offshore sites were a threat to regulated gaming, and asking Google and other search providers to to block these sites within their search results.
The newest push to ban offshore online gambling operators from accessing the US market is a matter of tax dollars. Several members of Congress have gotten together and sent a letter to the US Department of Justice to see if they would be willing to go after these operators, which lie beyond the reach of American law.
That letter called these offshore online gambling operators ‘predatory’ and claimed that they expose players from the US to certain cyber ‘vulnerabilities’. However, the fact that these sites are beyond US law also means they are not paying US taxes, and that is the one overriding factor and motivation behind this move.
You may recall that many politicians used to spend their time fighting the Justice Department so that the states they represent could regulate online gambling. Now these same politicians are imploring that same Justice Department to eliminate their competition for profits.
Regulation and player protection are both very important issues, and some offshore sites can certainly be unfair to players, with little recourse or over site. However, the vast majority are regulated… just not regulated in America… and are perfectly safe for players. The question of Americans being able to access them legally is another matter, though.
