The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently decided to change its position of the Federal Wire Act. Whereas it previously said that the act was only applicable to online sports gambling, it now asserts that its previous opinion had been misinterpreted and that all forms of online gambling fall under the auspices of the act. How or why it took eight years for the DOJ to issue this correction is anyone’s guess, but industry experts are pointing out that federal prosecutors are going to have a difficult time shutting down online gambling operations if they try to use the Wire Act in their prosecution.

The DOJ would first need to update its prosecution manual to include its new opinion. In speaking with Casino.org, a former supervisor for the DOJ’s Criminal Division, and current attorney at the O’Melveny & Myers law firm, each pointed out that, without inclusion of the opinion, prosecutors would not have a case. The attorney, Laurel Loomis Rimon, stated, “Revised guidance can certainly be provided within 90 days.” However, the DOJ has already stated that it will allow a 90-day grace period to allow for any public discussion on the matter.

Rimon also stated that the DOJ’s Organized Crime and Gang Section (OCGS) could “simply hold prosecutors from bringing the charges for a longer period if there is a feeling that 90 days is really not enough time to allow reasonable efforts to come into compliance with the law in any particular case.”

The OCGS is part of the department’s Criminal Division and was created in 2010 when the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section merged with the Gang Unit and the National Gang Targeting Enforcement & Coordination Center. The group is tasked with combating all types of organized crime.