The Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA) is seeking judgment restraining the United States from enforcing the “Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006” (UIGEA). The current law prevents U.S. credit-card companies and banks from processing payments to online gambling businesses. According to the Act, violators are subject to civil and/or criminal penalties including imprisonment.
The suit filed today in U.S. District Court outlined how the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act infringes upon basic constitutional rights and sets a dangerous precedent for I-commerce by criminalizing the transmission of money if the end result is illegal in some unspecified place. The injunction, if granted, will prevent the government from enforcing the UIGEA and pave the way for Internet gambling to resume pending further order of the court.
“The purpose of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act is to prevent Americans from engaging in their fundamental rights to conduct their lives in the manner they wish to live it - to be free from the government imposing public morality in the privacy of one’s home”, says Eric M. Bernstein, Esq., attorney for iMEGA.
Here are some details of the case...
INTERACTIVE MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT AND GAMING ASSOCIATION, INC. v. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES et al
Plaintiff: INTERACTIVE MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT AND GAMING ASSOCIATION, INC.
Defendant: ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES, FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION and FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
Case Number: 3:2007cv02625
Filed: June 5, 2007
Court: New Jersey District Court
Office: Trenton Office
County: Somerset
Presiding Judge: Judge Mary L. Cooper
Referring Judge: Magistrate Judge Tonianne J. Bongiovanni
Nature of Suit: Civil Rights - Other Civil Rights
Cause: 28:1331 Federal Question: Other Civil Rights
Jurisdiction: U.S. Government Defendant
Jury Demanded By: None
