• The simple answer is: sports betting has always been illegal, but the situation with other parts of online gambling – such as casino gaming and poker – is still unclear.

  The relevant legislation is the 1961 Interstate Wire Act. It is clear that sports betting via phone lines, which includes the internet, is illegal. Only one person – Jay Cohen, former president of World Sports Exchange – has been convicted for running an online gambling company and it’s notable that the company concerned was an online bookmaker. Sportingbet, similarly, is primarily a bookie but it does offer casino and poker gaming. It is harder to make the case that these products are illegal under the Wire Act. The US Department of Justice has stated that it regards online gambling as illegal.

  The important thing to note is that the law has not changed: the Wire Act still applies. A Bill to ban explicitly all online gambling is being discussed in Congress but may not become law. All that is happening is that different states are applying the Wire Act in different ways.

  Will the US authorities arrest more people?

• There is no clarity on whether the arrest of Peter Dicks, following the arrest of David Carruthers of BetOnSports, is part of a concerted campaign or crackdown. It was widely hoped that Mr Carruthers’s arrest was a one-off and linked to the specific circumstances connected to BetOnSports, ie, the online gaming industry hoped Mr Carruthers’s arrest was “non-contagious”.

  However, the Louisiana State Police arrested Mr Dicks with a sealed warrant and it is known that there are other names on it – assumed to be of other Sportingbet directors. The US authorities haven’t been proactive in securing arrests, though. It thus seems likely that more arrests will happen, but only if executives put themselves within easy reach of the authorities.

  I am a director of an online gambling company. Is it safe for me to travel to the US?

  I am a shareholder in an online gambling company. Am I too at risk?

  Following the case of the NatWest Three, would it be possible for the US authorities to request the extradition of online gambling bosses?

  Jason Chess is a partner of the media and technology law firm Wiggin LLP and David Bintliff is an assistant

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