"Having a casino in one's home only encourages gambling addicts and sparks the interest of children.  It is time to shine a bright light on gambling in this country and bring a quick end to illegal gambling on the Internet," said Goodlatte.

    Gambling is illegal unless regulated by the states.  With the development of the Internet, however, this situation has been turned on its head.  Gambling on the Internet has become easily accessible and illegal gambling businesses operate freely until law enforcement finds and stops them.  The Internet Gambling Prohibition Act gives law enforcement the tools that it needs to crackdown on illegal Internet gambling operations.  The legislation also states that:

    Anyone convicted of running an Internet gambling business is liable for a substantial fine and up to 4 years in prison.

    It does not preempt state laws regarding legalized, closed-loop services such as lotteries and parimutuel wagering, and does not cover online news reporting about gambling, and does not apply to fantasy sports leagues.

    "Online gambling must be stopped before it develops any further.  This legislation protects the rights of citizens in each state to decide through their state legislatures if they want to allow gambling within their borders and not have that right taken away by offshore fly-by-night operators."

    Goodlatte first introduced legislation to prohibit online gambling in the 105th Congress.  That bill, H.R. 2380, had 50 cosponsors and was referred to the House Judiciary Committee where further hearings were held.