Hosting gambling site in the US is legal.

[DumbFruit]

So after doing a bit of research, I've found out a few things about gambling in the US.

1.) Sports betting, and the hosting of sports betting sites in the US, is illegal.

2.) Banks may not facilitate gambling in such a way as to launder money.

3.) There is no Federal law which prohibits US citizens from betting on a gambling site.

What I have not found is any federal laws which prohibits the hosting of a gambling site in the US which does not participate in sports betting, and which does not launder money.

As I have found no such law, the only logical position is that it's perfectly legal to host a gambling site in the US.

If there is a Federal law that says it's illegal to host a gambling site in the US, then I would appreciate it if someone would produce it.

The closest I have found is this;

Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act
The Act prohibits gambling businesses from knowingly accepting payments in connection with the
participation of another person in a bet or wager that involves the use of the Internet and that is
unlawful under any federal or state law (termed “restricted transactions” in the Act).

But that begs, the question, "What is a restricted transaction?" I haven't found where that's specified, even though the term is used 36 times.

Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act
A joint rule has been issued by Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board that
designates five payment systems as covered by the Act. The designated payment
systems are: (i) automated clearing house (ACH) systems, (ii) card systems, (iii)
check collection systems, (iv) money transmitting businesses, and (v) wire
transfer systems.

I don't see how a gambling site falls under any of those categories.

Sources;
http://www.legalusgamblingsites.com/
http://vegasclick.com/online/legal.html
http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/30/first-legal-online-gambling-site-launches-in-the-u-s-but-only-for-nevada-residents-for-now/
http://www.ots.treas.gov/_files/422372.pdf
https://www.uleth.ca/dspace/bitstream/handle/10133/422/internet?sequence=1

[elbill]

That does not fit into any category does not mean "legal".

[faiza1990]

That does not fit into any category does not mean "legal".

agree if you believe then try for your own site

[DumbFruit]

If an activity isn't expressly prohibited then it's legal.. That's how stuff works.

I do not mean it has to be precise, but if it isn't part of something that is categorically illegal, then it's not illegal, seems like common sense to me.

[teppy]

Dragon's Tale was initially hosted in the US - we concluded the same thing, for the same reasons. I also had 3 lawyers read the various laws (the ones you reference, and in our case the applicable Pennsylvania laws,) and each of them also felt that as long as we were Bitcoin only, it was fine.

We then decided to take credit cards, and that would have clearly crossed the line, so before doing that we moved everything to Costa Rica.

Glad to chat offline if you'd like - Bitcoins and gambling are a great fit.

Teppy

[DumbFruit]

I also had 3 lawyers read the various laws (the ones you reference, and in our case the applicable Pennsylvania laws,) and each of them also felt that as long as we were Bitcoin only, it was fine.

That's definitely what it looks like to me.
Even though when you look at the opinion of random people they are almost universally saying it's illegal while posting absolutely no evidence for it. It's one of the many Twilight Zone moments I've had around here...

[fuggedit]

I seriously doubt this... The govt takes anything they can't get their geedy grubby mits in quite seriously.

[darkmule]

If there is a Federal law that says it's illegal to host a gambling site in the US, then I would appreciate it if someone would produce it.

Hint:  the vast majority of laws in the United States are NOT federal law.  They are state laws.  There are fifty sets of them.  I'd certainly welcome anyone addressing legality in all 50 states as well as D.C., the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, etc.  Or if anyone is willing to act as a Polish mine detector, I'd watch their progress with great interest.

[cowandtea]

Yes but they are slow in catching, I still see so many Bitcoin gambling site around

[FanEagle]

We should check what each state says about it, do a deeper research.

[rosatambo]

Why take the risk?  There are plenty of well connected countries with less draconian laws. Costa Rica as mentioned above is an excellent choice for gambling sites but bandwidth is limited and expensive. So the best option IMHO is to run the website somewhere onshore but do all bet calculations in CR.

[chateaux]

Wait till they yank your servers out the racks!

Just google "gambling hosting", Curacao is your best jurisdiction for gambling hosting and licensing...

We have been offering webhosting from the US, RSA and CW... I can tell you one thing, the Feds in the US, give rocks about adding sniffers onto a clients hardware or simply yanking them out the racks.

Don't take the risk.