Sports and the Illegality of Online Gambling in the United States: What About Internet Poker or Lotteries? Legal?

At the Wall Street Journal Law Blog, Joe Palazzolo has an article about the legality of online gambling at Internet Poker Is Sort of Legal!, discussing the legal memorandum opinion

--Whether Proposals by Illinois and New York to use the Internet and Out-of-State Transaction Processors to Sell Lottery Tickets to In-State Adults Violate the Wire Act --

just published by the Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, Justice Department, Office of Legal Counsel,

which has determined that:

"Interstate transmissions of wire communications that do not relate to a “sporting event or contest” fall outside the reach of the Wire Act.
 

Because the proposed New York and Illinois lottery proposals do not involve wagering on sporting events or contests, the Wire Act does not prohibit them."