DoJ’s Wire Act opinion gets further criticism

The iDEA Growth trade association, an advocate for the expanding iGaming market, filed a lawsuit against the DoJ in the New Hampshire District Court.

US.- The US Department of Justice (DoJ) issued a reinterpretation of the Wire Act, which would impact on sports betting and other forms of online gambling, generating major criticism from the industry. The iDEA Growth trade association, which advocates for the expansion of iGaming, has announced it has filed a lawsuit against it, becoming the latest to do so.

Jeff Ifra, the lead attorney in the suit, said that Ifrah Law, which represents iDEA, has filed a claim in the New Hampshire’s District Court. “We trust that the New Hampshire Court will give appropriate weight to judicial precedent over political factors in making its decision, a decision sure to have a major impact on a fast-growing industry poised to offer significant economic benefits to states across the country,” he explained.

Mr Ifrah also said that “the January 14 opinion glosses over case law precedent and largely ignores the legislative history that accompanied the Wire Act, which supports the original 2011 Memo.”

This is the third suit against the revised opinion. Back in January, Sara Slane, senior vice president of public affairs of the American Gaming Association (AGA), released a statement in response to the the new opinion and said that “it is unfortunate that the Department of Justice departed from well-established practice in reversing its previous opinion without a compelling reason to do so.”