Internet Gambling Redux (Freedom of Speech Edition)

Jacob Sullum's great new col is about the disturbing arrest of BetOnSports CEO David Carruthers, who was arrested on U.S. soil despite operating a business that is totally legal in his home country.

Here's more Internet-gambling-related news, and it too is disturbing. From Walter Williams' syndicated col, a shout-out against pending congressional legislation:

The Internet Gambling Prohibition Act gives Congress the authority to go to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) and order that they not provide linkages to online gambling establishments. If you think Congress will be satisfied with restrictions only on gambling establishments, you're going to be disappointed. After all, the Internet provides people with access to other establishments that can be said to "cause innumerable problems in our society." There are various hate groups with Internet sites that spew vile propaganda. There are pornographic sites. There are sites that present political ideas or religious fanaticism that are offensive to many people and can "cause innumerable problems in our society."

If the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act is approved, it will become a precedent for congressional control over other aspects of the Internet and an important loss in our liberty.

Whole thing here.

Reason checked out online gambling back in 1999 (and hey, I personally took home $170, far better than I ever managed in good ol' Atlantic City).

More recently, in May 2006, Reason pondered "How Legalized Gambling Went from the Strip to Main Street."