Shortly after the adoption of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act,1 (“UIGEA”), in the closing days of the 2006 Legislative Session, many non-U.S.-facing Internet gambling operations turned their backs on the largest segment of the market for their services – U.S. customers.2 This decision resulted in losses exceeding $7.6 billion dollars on the London Stock Exchange, as Internet gaming stocks tumbled.3 Did these entities fear that the United States could assert jurisdiction over their foreign operations, and prosecute the companies or their owners, for violations of the newly-minted law? Since the vast majority of Internet gambling operations have historically been located outside the United States, did Congress intend for the UIGEA to be applied extraterritorially to these non-resident entities?

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