The Internet Gambling Ban Act, introduced by Reps. Bob Goodratte and Rick Boucher, R-Va., would amend the Federal Front Act of 1961 by banning all forms of weekly gambling and Internet technology used in activities. 파워볼실시간

It will also ban gambling operators from receiving payments such as credit cards, checks, wire and internet transfers from illegal gambling transactions and will issue a restraining order to law enforcement. It also increases the maximum prison sentence for violations of the law from two years to five years.

“Internet gambling has become a very profitable business,” Goodlatte said in a statement. “Numerous studies have charted the explosive growth of this industry driven by the rise of available gambling websites and industrial revenue. Internet gambling is currently estimated to be a $12 billion industry, with around $6 billion coming from U.S.-based gamblers. There are reported to be 2,300 gambling sites.”

The United States has been hobbled in the past by such prohibition bills, including the World Trade Organization, which allowed the law to comply with WTO decisions in the dispute between the United States and Antigua and Barbuda until April 3, 2006.

Opponents argued the ban was not the answer, saying it would be better to develop a tax system in partnership with states dealing with gambling actors, such as casinos, especially when U.S. law does not extend its jurisdiction to other countries.