No Definition for Illegal Online Gambling Leads to Mass Confusion
The problem with enforcing laws against transactions for online gambling without defining what constitutes illegal Internet gambling is causing legal authorities in the US to stumble and bumble about in absurd fashion. This week, Virginia authorities apparently decided that gambling committed in a room containing computers is online gambling.
Not only did wagering and computers in the same vicinity mean illegal Internet gambling to the crack team of Virginia legal scholars, but a spokesman for police that raided the "Internet casino" asserted that "Internet gambling games are legal in some states, but not Virginia."
Officers from the Henry County Sheriff's Office swept down on four locations that had described themselves as Internet cafes. Inside, patrons were exchanging money for tokens, which could be used at machines in the place to wager. Staff would then convert tokens won back into cash.
Police seized 66 computers, almost $3000 in cash, and other office equipment as evidence. Arrests were not made at the time, as spokesman Scott Coleman said the investigation was ongoing.
When asked why authorities might think the operation involved online gambling, when money was taken and paid out on premises for action conducted in the building, Martinsville resident Chuck Rable said, "It done said 'Internet" right on the window, and they was all gambling inside. How simple could it be?"
Coleman did not comment on which Virgina statute made Internet gambling illegal, or which states allowed online gambling legally, or why Virginia would control interstate commerce, an authority given by the Constitution to the federal government.
