Poker-Bridge

I would like to kindly ask a few questions about the legalities of online poker.

1. Is it legal for an American software company to license poker software to online poker casinos and accept ongoing royalties (either a fixed amount, or as a percentage of the gross) as part of their license fees?
2.  Is a U.S. citizen in violation of U.S. laws by having his/her name on an off shore credit processor account?
3. Is it legal for a U.S. citizen to advertise/market for an off shore poker casino? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

There is precious little rules (either existing or proposed) that deal with on-line casinos, so you have to draw from the existing gambling statues.  I don’t think there is anything at the Federal level (nor most states) that prohibits developing gambling equipment. The answer to the second question is that, with the exception of a few blacklisted countries, there’s nothing that prohibits it. The answer to the third question is that, Not right now.  But if the current Internet Gambling bill passes as written, it will pretty much make such agents of “Gambling Businesses” illegal.

Answer 2:

My concern isn’t with the questions above (which IMHO would never be universally answered in a court of law) but with the larger question of how the recent Internet Gambling Bill will impact on-line poker.  Basically the law seeks to stop on-line casinos and sports books by requiring US ISPs to block access.  My question is whether or not this applies to poker rooms such as Paradise Poker?  Also, keep in mind this may impact practically all US Internet users.  It isn’t just AOL, MindSpring, etc that will block access but ALL ISPs including UUnet, PSInet, etc that provide internet access for corporations and educational institutions.  If the bill passes and isn’t immediately challenged in court you may want to consider checking with your ISP about their plans to block access to such sites.

Answer 3:

People keep saying this, but the bills as currently written don’t say that. The only requirement on ISP’s is for their direct subscribers who happen to be ’gambling businesses.’