You May Be a Businessman in the U.K., but Here You're a Racketeer

Jacob Sullum | July 18, 2006

On Sunday night the FBI arrested David Carruthers, CEO of the British online bookmaker BetOnSports, as his plane stopped in Dallas on the way to Costa Rica. Federal prosecutors are charging him with racketeering and wire fraud for accepting bets from Americans. The New York Times speculates that the Justice Department was emboldened by the House's recent approval of an online gambling ban, although current law arguably already bans online sports betting, if not online casinos. As with the arrest of Canadian marijuana seed dealer Marc Emery, the U.S. government is reaching across borders to impose its oppressive paternalism on citizens of more tolerant countries. How would the U.S. react if an executive of an American media company were arrested in Beijing for violating a Chinese law against subversive online speech, or in Tehran for creating indecent Web content viewed by Iranians?