US Launches Aggressive Effort to Curb Internet Gambling

With the biggest prosecution effort against internet gambling to date, United States authorities are sending out a clear message to online gamblers and online gambling operators alike: don't.

An indictment was unsealed Monday charging the operators of British-incorporated BetOnSports of illegally taking bets from US residents and failing to pay taxes on the $3.3 billion in wagers coming from the US.

The indictment named CEO David Carruthers among 10 others. He could be facing years in prison should he be convicted.

Analysts say that this has been the most aggressive effort to prosecute operators of offshore gaming websites. However, they say that the ambiguity of the existing law on online gambling has them zeroing in on sports betting sites, as opposed to online casinos, poker rooms and lotteries.

"Confusing and sometimes conflicting state and federal laws have left room for a range of legal interpretation," said Ben Macklin, a senior analyst at the research firm eMarketer.

"However, there has been a renewed push from the government to curb online gambling activity," he added.

"My advice to anyone in the business is, 'Don't come into the United States, even to change planes.'" Joseph Kelly, a legal scholar at the State University of New York College at Buffalo said, following the latest indictments and arrest of a British national during a plane change in the United States.