“Will the Constitution prove advertising online gambling as legal?”

The United States Department of Justice began a grand jury enquiry, as part of the continual fight against the industry of Internet gambling, into the endeavors of media companies in the United States, as well as main Internet search engines, which offer offshore casinos their services for issuing or advertising their provisions. Offshore gambling operations are considered by formal United States government policy as unlawful. Apparently, advertising these online operations is not legal too, as according to the Department of Justice enforcement officers this ensues from the fact that the offshore gambling business is illegal.

Nevertheless, this issue is hotly debated by a number of legal specialists, who claim that the assumption that federal law outlaws all kinds of Internet gambling has still not been made clear, and so this stifles the advertisement legality issue. Assuming that Internet gambling is unquestionably unlawful, a number of specialists contend too that the prerogative to advertise Internet gambling sites is guarded by the right to commercial speech as secured by the Constitution.

This is the claim that urged Casino City Inc., the operator of CasinoCity.com, the online Casino directory, to sue the United States Department of Justice for being violating the right of free speech which is protected by the Constitution. Casino City’s advocates claim that the Department of Justice in targeting publishers in the United States for penalization if they broadcast, show or publish advertisement promoting online sites that it is in violation of the right of free speech.

Casino City Inc. in its court case proceeding on August 9, requests from the court to declare a ruling that advertisements for Internet casinos are secured by the right of free speech as established in the constitution. The Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based Casino City obtains its income from its offshore casino advertising. These advertised casinos hold permits and are considered legal abroad, even though the casinos advertised are outlawed or not licensed in the United States.

Barry Richard, a Casino City lawyer, who during the 2000 election issue, known for his representation of President Bush at the Supreme Court in Florida, claimed that offshore casino advertising is in its right to have the identical protection of the constitution that a Las Vegas casino national magazine is entitled to. Thus although Las Vegas casinos are not permitted to run in California, it is not illegal to display their advertisement in California.

Offshore casinos undoubtedly will be following the lawsuit carefully, for their businesses will be substantially affected by the outcome. More than half the Internet gambling sites’ clients live in the United States, and a ban on advertising would significantly influence their capability to keep their current clients and accumulate additional ones. There will also be a significant effect by the ruling on various other media companies currently planning to or actually advertising offshore casinos. Deciding to cease to advertise offshore casinos, a number of major radio companies have already concurred, such as Clear Channel Communications, Infinity Broadcasting and cable television Discovery Networks.