To the Editor:
I read, with dismay, the article regarding the potential charges being considered based on participation in online poker betting (The Dartmouth, "Police consider pressing online gambling charges," May 19). As an attorney practicing in the area of online gambling, I can say that such charges are rare, and not well founded. The Internet is not a medium that is subject to regulation by state law. Under the Commerce Clause to the U.S. Constitution, international business such as the Internet can only be regulated by federal, not state, law. The federal Justice Department does not waste its time pursuing small time bettors, and neither should the local police. Gambling is a social issue, and one that is not effectively solved by the initiation of criminal prosecution. The best bet is to leave regulation of Internet gambling to the feds.
