A group of 50 U.S. attorneys general has urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to take a harder stance against “the rampant spread” of unapproved gambling operations by taking legal action and strong enforcement measures similar to the Black Friday of 2011.
The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) stated on Tuesday that a bipartisan coalition of 50 AGs has written to federal AG Pam Bondi to ask the DOJ to prioritize efforts targeting unlawful online sports betting and gaming platforms that operate outside the bounds of U.S. law.
The letter was co-signed by the AGs from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Nebraska and Utah. The other signatories are the AGs from 42 other states, as well as the District of Columbia, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The NAAG describes itself as a nonpartisan organization of the attorneys general of the 50 states, D.C. and U.S. territories. Kentucky, Montana, Texas and Wisconsin are the only four states not represented.
Stop! Hammer time
The coalition says it is time for the federal government to drop the hammer.
The AGs are concerned with what they describe as illegal and offshore entities that continue to operate across the country without a license. It says those operations pose significant risks by failing to implement meaningful consumer protections, evading state regulations and tax obligations and undermining the integrity of state-regulated gaming markets.
“We seek the USDOJ’s cooperation in ensuring these companies are brought to justice to the fullest extent available under state and federal law, both criminal and civil, for any potential violations,” wrote the AGs in the letter.
The coalition cited 2022 estimates from the American Gaming Association that suggested that the volume of illegal online gaming exceeds more than $400 billion annually.
DOJ must use its toolbox, say AGs
The AGs’ letter urged the DOJ to use the powers available to it to clamp down on illegal and offshore operators.
In particular, the states’ chief legal officers advocate for the DOJ to take several measures that it says are available to the department:
- Pursue injunctive relief under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) to block access to illegal websites and associated payment processors and systems
- Seize assets including servers, domains, and financial proceeds that are used in connection with unlawful gaming operations
- Collaborate with state authorities, financial institutions and payment processors to disrupt the financial infrastructure supporting illegal gambling
On the last of those points, the letter implored the DOJ to work with states and major payment processors to implement “a national enforcement and compliance strategy” to cut off access to the U.S. financial system. The AGs noted that Visa and Mastercard have each voiced willingness to investigate and combat unlawful use of their networks for gambling, something that both payments giants confirmed to SBC in March.
“We should capitalize on this willingness to shut down illegal offshore gaming operations,” stressed the AGs.
Remember Black Friday?
The AGs also urged the DOJ to replicate the actions it took on April 15, 2011, when the DOJ seized the .com internet addresses of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker and replaced them with a takedown notice amid criminal and civil lawsuits alleging a range of crimes.
“Because the websites owned by unlawful offshore operations violate federal law, USDOJ can and should seize the websites and domain names of operators and retain any proceeds recovered as part of the seizure,” stated the AGs.
“Those same mechanisms [as Black Friday] can and should be applied to illegal offshore gaming platforms.”
SBC Americas reached out to the DOJ for a comment, but the department declined to provide one.
