Online Casinos and US Edging Closer to Settlement

In yet another stunning turnaround from the 2006 position, it looks as though the online casinos and the United States Department of Justice may be on the verge of creating a settlement that would not only see all US legal action against online casinos cease, but would also see a potential future partnership established between the two countries in preparation for the online casinos to return to the US market; a market that every industry expert worth his or her salt knows is the most lucrative market in the world for the online gambling industry.

It seems as though the shelf-life of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act will be just over two years, although the writing was on the wall for that bill according to some ever since the day it was passed. As soon as the UIGEA was passed, the Department of Justice for the federal government sprang into action, persecuting and prosecuting all of the officials from online casino companies they could find. Large enterprises like Party Gaming and Sporting Bet found themselves pursued consistently by law enforcement officials in the United States that would not accept no for an answer. Eventually, the online casino companies were offered an easy exit from the American market if they were to pay all of the money they got from the US market back to the US government and then give up all of their executives, founders and owners to serve prison sentences in the country before being released. The online casinos sneered at such a ridiculous offer, especially considering the legal dubiousness of the case the US had and made their exits from the US market without paying anything back.

It was at that point that the online casinos realized that the long arm of US justice was a lot longer than they initially thought it was and that it was able to pursue them no matter where in the world they went. Therefore, after two years of attrition at the hands of US justice officials, it looks as though online casinos are ready to come back to the table and pay a settlement to get the case closed as the US Department of Justice off their backs. The online casinos have no intention of handing over employees, executives, owners or founders to the United States, but they could be persuaded into paying a settlement if the US agrees to drop charges and calm things down as a result. The Justice Department, long growing tired of this fruitless chase, is now in a position where it is also willing to accept that settlement potentially and forego prison sentences. For that reason, it looks like both parties are in a place where they feel like negotiation is the way to go forward rather than attrition.

The US can not destroy online casino companies and the online casino companies can not out-attrition the US government. Besides, with online gambling on the verge of being looked at seriously for the first time in two years within the United States congress, it looks as though this patching up of past affairs might be well-timed as well.