Protecting State Interests
If you were to ask a legislator in Washington State why the online casino
gambling industry is illegal in the state they would likely either give a
sputtering response or begin defensive claims about the dangers of internet
gambling – and some politicians are actually wholly ignorant to the situation
and have very little awareness of the big debate going on right now. The fact
is, the situation in Washington State is very transparent, the online casinos
and internet poker sites are wholly illegal throughout the state as a way to
protect state land gambling interests. That’s it. That’s essentially the whole
reason why an online gambler in Washington could face some hefty jail time,
because the state makes a whole lot of money from the highly regulated land
gambling industry.
Washington State has made internet gambling a felony offense within the state
which is certainly punishable by jail time and potentially a huge fine as well.
The entire situation though seems a bit absurd – a *felony* offense? Really? For
gambling at the online casinos in a state that already has a huge and developed
land gambling industry? The state of Washington receives tax revenues from the
state land gambling interests as well as tribal gambling in the state and there
is a very real fear in the state government that the online casino industry
would negate and lower some of the profit margins and revenue for the legal land
gambling industry.
But then you listen to the Washington politicians speak about why the ban is in
place and they mention the dangers of online casinos, the difficulty in
effectively regulating, the threat to potential underage gamblers even. No where
in these discussions are mention of the indisputable fact that the legislation
was put in place as a protectionist law for the state’s land gambling interests. |