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State and municipal authorities, having grown fond of

nurturing and taxing local gambling, can easily see that

Internet gambling might put their cash cows out to pas-

ture.  In 1996 state authorities alone collected $3 bil-

lion in taxes from casinos and other licensed private gam-

bling operations.10   Because of their lottery monopolies,

which in 1996 sold $43 billion worth of tickets (up 12

percent from 1995)11 and earned revenues of $14 billion,12

state authorities have a direct stake in preventing citi-

zens from shopping for better odds on the Internet.  After

all, state and local officials collect $0.00 from Internet

gambling operations.

Even religious groups may have a conflict of interest

when it comes to opposing Internet gambling.  Charitable

games raked in $2.5 billion in 1995, a 3.4 percent share

of the legal gambling market.13   Whether or not Internet

gambling represents a moral scourge, it certainly repre-

sents a competitive threat to church bingo games and the

like.  It bears noting, given the fervor with which some

self-appointed moral guardians attack gambling, that few

Americans regard gambling as immoral.14   A 1993 survey

found that only 25 percent of those who did not gamble

cited moral or religious reasons.15

Political Efforts to Ban Internet Gambling

Both the U.S. House and Senate have recently consid-

ered bills to prohibit Internet gambling.  Although they

differ in their details and may well change as they work

through the legislative process, any of the proposed bills

would, if signed into law, impose draconian, unjust, and

unenforceable restrictions on Internet gambling.16   Sen. Jon

Kyl (R-Ariz.), sponsor of the Senate bill, summed up how

many U.S. politicians regard Internet gambling (and,

undoubtedly, much else) when he said, "I don't believe it

can be regulated, so we have to prohibit it."17

That existing laws cover Internet gambling makes the

rage for new legislation all the more perverse.  Several

federal statutes plainly outlaw the business of Internet

gambling, though the paucity of relevant case law makes

their application to individual amateur bettors uncertain.18

The current version of the Federal Interstate Wire Act

(the Wire Act) prohibits using interstate communications to

run a gambling business.19   The Organized Crime Control Act

of 1970 similarly makes it a federal crime to engage in a

gambling business that is illegal under state law.20   The

federal Travel Act,21 as read broadly by the courts, crimi-

nalizes all interstate communications22 that attempt to