FBI agents have turned up in Washington state interviewing online gambling patrons of Full Tilt, one of the largest Internet poker sites. With the looming implementation of the UIGEA, the US government may be preparing the first use of the ban in a prosecution of an online gambling operator.Reports on the popular twoplustwo poker forum say that small-time players have received unannounced visits from FBI agents inquiring as to their transactions with Full Tilt. The agents are saying that they are not looking to prosecute the players, but rather to gather information on Full Tilt, indicating the building of a federal case against the online poker operator. While the forum's reasoning based on the facts is purely speculative, the situation seems to lead to certain logical conclusions.
The setting of the investigation in Washington is a key, as the state is one of very few with a law against online poker. Courts have found that the UIGEA only penalizes violators of existing gambling laws, which means that online gambling operators accepting Washington residents would fall under the prohibition's purview.
Further, Washington allows prosecution against patrons of Internet gaming as a felony, a legal leverage that may help investigators coerce cooperation from reluctant gamblers. Courts investigating Internet gambling operations in other jurisdictions have had trouble persuading participants to testify.
The UIGEA is set to begin implementation on June 1st, unless Congress acts before then to change or repeal the law. Barney Frank is leading an effort to regulate online gambling before the implementation date for the UIGEA comes to pass.
However, if the US does implement the online gambling ban, a prosecution of Full Tilt could prove disastrous to the poker company. Even though the violations may be specific to Washington and that state's law, the Department of Justice could use that opening to create such financial and legal trouble as to force Full Tilt out of the US gaming market.
Published on February 21, 2010 by JoshuaMcCarthy
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