Understanding the legal limitations in different countries

Though gambling has been a huge hit from quite some time, online sportsbook is relatively a new addition world over. It has only been popular for over a decade, which provokes doubts about the legality of the online wagering sites. Even the government authorities of different states or countries do not follow a standard set of laws for these internet sportsbooks, which creates confusion around its legal limitations.

Country Laws concerning sports betting

Most of the nation around the world frame their own legal laws for online sports betting, based on their cultural history and contemporary political views. This makes it highly difficult for a single law to rule the online gambling market. For example, a country like Europe, where online wagering is legal for centuries, would not want to change its rule and follow a separate law.
So, to understand the legalities much better, let’s quickly look at a few of the world’s major gambling market and their applicable internet sports betting laws.

Internet sports betting law in the US

In 1961, US passed a Federal Wire Act, to restrict illegal sports betting operations and transmission of sports betting information to other states and countries through online wire. This act also specified that anyone who was held for illegal bookmaking would be fined and imprisoned. This general restriction was made applicable even to internet poker games and casinos.
But, in 2011, the US department of justice and the Fifth circuit court amended the federal wire act and said that, only the providers of illegal sports gambling would be punished and not the participants who tried their luck and skills on online gambling. This made it clear that, all Americans are free to place their bet without worrying about getting arrested in their state or country though in actual sense the betting is illegal.

Australian online sports betting law

The Interactive Gambling Law (IGA) of 2001, was passed by the Australian Government to clearly indicate the legal restrictions on the different kinds of online bets.
IGA protects the rights of wagers who place online sports bets, if they are above 18 years of age and maintain a legal proof of their identity. Also as IGA is a recognized law, Internet sports betting is very much legal in Australia and one can find plenty of state-licensed sportsbooks online.

Legalities of internet sports betting in Europe

The online gambling laws in Europe are quite debatable. The European commission is the central body controlling all the gambling legislations of the member countries of the Eurozone. But each member country, whether it be Germany, Greece or the UK, has its own set of internet gambling legal laws controlled by its government and one can even find online betting sports shops in nooks and corners of these countries.
So any person above the age of 18 is authorized to follow the individual nation’s laws with lesser or fewer legal restrictions.

Laws of internet sports gambling in Canada

Canadian government permits any individual with a government license for online sports betting, to wager on the internet, without stating it as illegal. This is even mentioned in section VII of the Canadian criminal codified law. Apart from those who accept sports wagers illegally without a license, no one has been arrested for sports betting online till date.

So, the varied legal restrictions in different countries make it clear that, you have to follow the laws of the country in which you live and still if you need any clarification regarding online sports betting, you should consult a legal expert or read the nations applicable legal code. So sports betting online are mostly legal in many countries except for a few exceptions.