Third Circuit Upholds Ban
September 28, 2009
For those hoping that the Third Circuit Court of Appeals would find on behalf of the online gambling industry they have been disappointed yet again. The various online gambling sites have been arguing for years now that online gambling should be legal because it is a violation of an individual's privacy rights to tell them that they cannot gamble in the privacy of their own home. They also say that under the federal law the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act or UIGEA is impermissibly vague and unenforceable. They were hoping that the courts would see their way to making the right decision, but instead they have upheld the Act.
The court found that the law is constitutional and that “it clearly provides a person of ordinary intelligence with adequate notice of the conduct that it prohibits." The online gambling sites were arguing that if you choose to gamble in a state that prohibits online gambling, that act cannot be judged from the state where it takes place as it is actually taking place in a foreign jurisdiction. If where the act takes place it is legal, then why is the state getting involved.
The court found that if the state where the computer basically is located has a law that says online gambling is illegal then that's state has the right to prosecute for illegal activities. They said that the state's laws supersede the international law.
As far as the privacy argument, the government just doesn't care. The online gambling industry relied on cases that overturned laws regulating sex, the most famous being a Fifth Circuit decision striking down a law regulating the sale of sex toys. However the court said that online gambling is not an inherently private activity and therefore “is not protected by any right to privacy under the Constitution.”
