Internet Gaming
The United States remains the only jurisdiction in the developed world that continues to treat international and domestic internet gaming service providers as criminals to be aggressively prosecuted in the criminal courts. The failure of the US to decriminalise, regulate and tax this industry (as has now occurred in the UK and the EU), may well be due to the chronic social schisms that characterize the US political dynamic. Whatever the origins of this recalcitrance it is unclear when US federal law will permit US and foreign internet gaming operators to exploit the natural relative competitive advantages that US citizens enjoy in both gaming innovation and internet service delivery.
Defence counsel in this field must understand the sometimes subtle indicators that US authorities send when they merely wish to obtain the settlement, on terms, of civil bank account restraint orders, sometimes even before the commencement of formal civil forfeiture proceedings.
As the Canadian Department of Justice has yet to undertake a major internet gaming extradition attempt it is difficult to predict how the Canadian Courts will respond to such a request. If such an attempt is made, M+A will bring its extensive experience to bear to resist any such extradition request (See: Extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance).