Monday, April 25, 2005

A Winning Idea?

This looks to be a good idea for squeezing out a few more dollars for the State:
State lawmakers, desperate to close another billion-dollar budget gap, are
eagerly eyeing the Illinois Lottery and all the money it might generate if
people could buy tickets on the Internet.
Sounds good. I mean, couldn't we get additional revenue from more out-of-staters or even foreigners? Well, maybe not:
It doesn't specify how players would pay for tickets or how officials could
control who buys them; Cullerton says that would be left to lottery officials.
He also acknowledges that the idea of an Internet lottery gets into a legal gray
area: The federal Wire Communications Act of 1961 prohibits the use of wire
communication facilities for interstate gambling purposes, but even experts say
it isn't clear how that would apply to a state-run lottery.
Oh. I guess if it were just that easy, everyone would already be selling lottery tickets online.

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