Several months ago the US Department of Justice rattled the online gambling industry in America by reversing its 2011 Wire Act opinion which held the legislation only applied to sports betting. The new decision by the DOJ put a lot of state legislators in an uncomfortable position, and a legally murky area when it came to deciding the fate of regulating online gambling.

Earlier this month, the New Hampshire Lottery Commission fought the DOJ’s move in court, and Judge Paul Barbadoro issued a ruling is support of the their position saying that the Wire Act “…only applies to transmissions related to bets or wagers on a sporting event or contest.” He then set aside the Justice Department Legal Counsel opinion that the Act covered all online gambling

At this point, the DOJ has a choice. They can accept the lower court’s ruling and reverse its reversal, or they can appeal to the US Supreme Court. With a great majority of the states supporting online gambling, so if the DOJ wants to continue the fight it’s clear the states are ready to do just that.

Read more about this ongoing legal battle over the DOJ’s Wire Act opinion at the The Signal