Online Gambling Sites Must Follow Local Laws

November 5, 2008

The idea of the internet and online gambling has long been a debated one. If the internet is truly �out there� then who will govern it? Who gets to say what should be legal or illegal and how will it be implemented? Many have often felt that any sort of internet business was somehow above the law as there wasn�t really anyone to report to.

However, it has recently become apparent that the online gambling industry does have to follow the law, but it would be the local law on the state level, as well as the federal level. It can be said that those that would seek to break the law on the internet could not really be held accountable, but as we have recently seen in Kentucky this is not really the case.

With a judge recently ruling that the online gambling sites in Kentucky can be seized, many are asking the same question � how is this going to be carried out. The local laws are obviously seeking something outside of their jurisdiction, yet something that is affecting them as if it were in their own backyard. Geography aside, as it the internet and online gambling are now piping into the living rooms of residents across the state, the state now feels that they have the right to determine how they are affected.

Initially, when they announced that they were going after online gambling many thought that they would fail. However, so far they have been successful, and the online casinos are wondering how this could have happened. With this rationale, any state could lay claim to the online gambling websites, not just Kentucky � so how do you decide who gets it.

This is a case that is not as cut and dry as it has played out recently in the courts, for they have made it seem simple. Online gambling is anything but.




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