Expanded U.S. Prohibition on Online Gambling Is Upended by Judge
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The U.S. Justice Department’s recent move to expand a prohibition on online gambling under a 1961 law was overturned by a federal judge who ruled that the measure only bans sports betting that involves interstate transactions.
The decision Monday by U.S. District Judge Paul Barbadoro in New Hampshire will be a big relief to operators of interstate lotteries and other internet-based gambling sites who feared that the Justice Department’s expanded reading of the law, disclosed in January, could jeopardize all online wagering that crosses state lines.